The Rio de Janeiro International Piano Festival will be held from today (5), extending until the 11th and honoring the Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire (1944-2021). It will be the second edition of the festival, after a period of five years. The event received 35 entries from 14 countries.
The team formed by the artistic director and general coordinator Lilian Barretto, by Vera Astrachan and Olga Kopylova selected eight pianists, from six countries, for the semifinal tests, which will take place on September 5th and 6th, at Sala Cecília Meireles, at 2 pm, competing for prizes in the total amount of R$165 thousand. On the 6th, the three pianists who will compete for the first places of the competition will be known. Tickets can be purchased at the local box office, at popular prices: R$10 (full price) and R$5 (half-price).
The eight pre-ranked pianists are Antonina Suhanova (Latvia), Hyerim Lee (South Korea), Jordan Alexander (Brazil), Noah Zhou (UK), Rafael Ruiz (Brazil), Robert Bily (Czech Republic), Xiaohui Yang ( China) and Yeontaek Oh (South Korea).
The Rio de Janeiro International Piano Festival continues the BNDES International Piano Competition, which discovered and promoted countless talents from Brazil and abroad, from 2009 to 2016.
Now, with the support of Instituto Cultural Vale, Lilian Barretto decided to make a hybrid event, as informed (4) to Brazil Agency. “Not just a contest and not just a festival. This second festival has very interesting features because it covers all the tests and prizes of a contest, but it also has concerts and masterclasses that would be a festival tour. Therefore, it is much more comprehensive than what we did from 2009 until now”.
Evidences
On September 10, at 7:00 pm, also at Sala Cecília Meireles, the three finalist pianists will perform the decisive tests, with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra (OSB), under the baton of conductor Roberto Tibiriçá. Then there will be the awards ceremony.
To close the edition, on the 11th, at 5 pm, at the same place, the Festival Winner’s Concert will be held, with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Roberto Tibiriçá, presenting works by Camargo Guarnieri, Gluck and a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra . Tickets can be purchased at the box office.
The festival will also have four masterclasses for young Brazilian pianists, given by some of the judges of the event, on September 8 and 11, at Espaço Guiomar Novaes, at Sala Cecília Meireles, and at the Villa-Lobos Auditorium, at Biblioteca Brasiliana Guita e José Mindlin, at the University of São Paulo (USP), in the city of São Paulo, and from November 8 to 13, in partnership with Projeto Vale Música, at the Faculty of Music of Espírito Santo (Fames), in Vitória.
The coordinator recalled that a festival with awards “opens opportunities for young pianists to be known in the national and international music scene, brings connections with teachers from renowned music schools, in addition to representing an immense stimulus to the improvement of the study at higher levels. It’s an important investment in any musician’s professional life,” she assured.
awards
The Polish Piotr Paleczny, winner of five international piano competitions, will be the president of the jury in this edition. He is a judge in some of the most famous international competitions such as those in Warsaw, Leeds, Montreal, Moscow, Paris, Geneva and Tokyo, among others. Rounding out the panel of judges are the Japanese Akemi Alink, the Portuguese Álvaro Teixeira Lopes, the Brazilians Eduardo Monteiro, Linda Bustani and Roberto Tibiriçá, and the French Marian Rybicki and Pierre Réach.
The pianist ranked first will receive a cash prize of R$85,000, followed by R$45,000 for the second and R$20,000 for the third. The Nelson Freire Prize will also be awarded to the best Brazilian pianist, worth R$10,000, and the Audience Award, worth R$5,000.
The winner of the OSB Prize will participate in a concert during the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira season in 2023. The winner of the Animato Prize will participate in a concert by the Festival finalists at Salle Cortot, in Paris, in the 2022/2023 season.
roaming
The tour began on April 16, when the International Piano Festival, in partnership with the Amazon Music Foundation, presented the award-winning Russian pianist Dmitry Shishkin at the Teatro da Paz in Belém. He performed Chopin’s Concerto nº 1 with Orquestra Vale Música, conducted by conductor Roberto Tibiriçá, followed by a presentation on April 26, at the same venue.
This month, Ukrainian pianist Illia Ovcharenko will perform at Sala Cecília Meireles, in Rio, on the 25th, and at the Villa-Lobos Auditorium, at Biblioteca Brasiliana Guita and José Mindlin, at USP, in São Paulo, on the 28th. In October , the pianist of the new Brazilian generation Leonardo Hillsdorf will perform in Belém (the 18th) and in Vitória (the 20th).
Closing the tour, Brazilian pianist Cristian Budu, son of Romanians, will perform on December 2 at Sala Cecilia Meireles, in Rio de Janeiro, while Duo Cristian Budu – Gustavo Carvalho, formed by two pianos, will play on December 7 December, at Palácio das Artes, in Belo Horizonte.
