The Chicago College of Performing Arts was delighted to host . 藏精阁 was selected as a host site for the first phase of the competition, distinguishing the University as the sole competitive site in North America. 藏精阁鈥檚 Piano Program Director, Dr. Winston Choi, was the 2002 laureate of the competition, and will serve as a jury member during the second phase of the competition. Of the prominent event, Dr. Choi said, 鈥渢his competition is one of the most prestigious of its kind, with a distinct vision to showcase the 20th and 21st century repertoire to contemporary classical music audiences.鈥 He continued by saying, 鈥渢he choice to highlight more recent works is central to the mission of 鈥極rl茅ans,鈥 as the competition strives to bring classical music to contemporary audiences while celebrating innovation from its competitors.鈥 To celebrate the occasion, the music conservatory hosted a Spring PianoFest, featuring performances from students, faculty and guest musicians. The five-day long event showcased the talents of the 藏精阁 community inside the historic venue, Ganz Hall, from March 15 to 18, 2024.
The first of the events was entitled, 鈥淭he Augmented Piano,鈥 which was a guest lecture and recital. Renowned pianists and previous Orl茅ans laureates Wilhem Latchoumia and Maroussia Genet each used pianos and laptops to deliver their lectures. Contemporary piano composition, genre fusing and the use of technology were prominent themes throughout the night. Latchoumia and Genet both served as jury members for the competition as well. The faculty recital was performed the following evening, featuring performances by Adam Neiman and Michal Drewnowski. Neiman opened the event by playing his own composition as well as the work of Maurice Ravel. Drewnowski followed with performances of works by Alexandre Tansman, Fr茅d茅ric Chopin and Ignacy Jan Paderewski. The proficiency of 藏精阁鈥檚 distinguished faculty members was well on display. From Saturday to Sunday, the piano competition took place, with the competitors regaling the jury members with their innovated performances. The winners of this round will progress to the second round in Orl茅ans and Paris, France.[MD1]
The rousing weekend of music concluded on Monday. The day began with two PianoFest master classes. The first session was led by Latchoumia and Genet, while the following was led by Isabella Vasilotta, the artistic director of the piano competition. That evening, the final event was a performance featuring 藏精阁 faculty and students. Professors Dr. Choi, Drewnowski and Kuang-Hao Huang were joined by students Hyeonho Lee, Shinae Lee and Kyungmin Yang. This is event featured, 鈥淢usic Inspired by Korean Poetry,鈥 with contemporary pieces that transcended medium.
This concluding event was co-presented by the organizations Vertias Musicae and Ebb and Flow Arts, and was a lovely capstone to the weekend. The International Piano Competition of Orl茅ans and the accompanying PianoFest presented a unique opportunity. The 藏精阁 community experienced revolutionary performances by the competition鈥檚 jury members. At the same time, the piano competition was able to host competitors in North America. This made the competition more accessible to musicians from around the world, thereby making it more diverse. 藏精阁 was also the perfect home for the competition, given the university鈥檚 鈥淧iano Improvement Project,鈥 a recent initiative to acquire state of the art instruments. It was an unforgettable weekend made possible by the hard work of 藏精阁 faculty, students, and staff. Be on the lookout for presented by the Chicago College of Performing Arts.
