|
America S. Koreans Cho Jun-Hwi, Jenny Lee (Lee Jung-Yeon), Yang Min-Jei, Among the Young Contestants
series of masterclasses and seminars. Awards are also given to the best duo, paired at the beginning of the competition, to perform in the ensemble round. Unique to the New York International Piano Competition is its policy of no elimination; each contestant will perform in all four rounds and be judged by a jury of some of the most distinguished members of the music community.Every participant will return home either as a prize winner or finalist award recipient. The level of competition has been uniformly high over the event¡¯s 12 year history; former winners have gone on to win the Gilmore Young Artist Award, The Juilliard School¡¯s William Petschek Recital Award, the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts at Harvard University, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the 2010 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, and some to become National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Presidential Scholars.Monetary awards total $40,000, but just as important as the monetary awards are the opportunities for concert and recital appearances that are awarded to winners and finalists. Held every two years, the New York International Piano Competition is dedicated to providing artistic development, educational enhancement, seminars, master classes, and performance opportunities.This year¡¯s jurors include Jane Coop, Tong-Il Han, Jon Nakamatsu, Thomas Schumacher, Orli Shaham, and Jeffrey Swann.The internationally lauded composer Gabrielle Lena Frank has been commissioned by the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation to compose a ¡°required¡± piece for this year¡¯s competition that will be learned and performed by all contestants. The Chicago Tribune¡¯s chief critic John von Rein wrote a feature story on Ms. Frank in 2011 in which he described her as, ¡°one of the most compelling composers on today's new music scene, whose works are widely performed just about everywhere.¡±The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, a non-profit organization, is an outgrowth of the renowned Stecher and Horowitz School of the Arts which was founded in 1960 in Cedarhurst, New York. Until 1999 the school was Nassau County¡¯s leading conservatory of music, attended by some 15,000 students during its thirty-nine year history. The Foundation is now dedicated to an expanded concept that seeks to inspire and support outstanding young musicians worldwide.Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz, Executive Directors of the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, have devoted a lifetime to the musical education of young people. Internationally recognized as one of the most distinguished duo-piano teams of their generation, Stecher and Horowitz are equally renowned for their multi-faceted activities as performers, teachers, composers and educational consultants – activities that have earned them a unique position in the world of music. Having been co-directors of the Stecher and Horowitz School of the Arts for 39 years, (1960-1999) it was apparent to both principals that the most important years for developing interested young musicians were the pre-teen years and into the early twenties, a good decade of concentrated and formative development. The New York Piano Competition was originally founded on this premise.In 2009, the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation announced two major changes in its biennial New York Piano Competition (NYPC). For the first time the Competition accepted contestant applications from outside the United States effective for the summer of 2010, a change in the procedures of accepting applications only from students (American or foreign) who were pursuing studies in the United States. Since then Competition is known as the New York International Piano Competition. In addition, it expanded its age category upwards from 14-18 years to 16-21 years – this affords contestants in the late teens the opportunity to interact musically with promising young adults, serving as a challenging incentive toward greater achievement. The original concept of allowing all contestants to complete their participation without elimination remained the same, fostering the fullest musical interaction between contestants throughout the entire span of the competition. The New York International Piano Competition remains true to its predecessor¡¯s philosophy that the primary goal of a musical competition is to further the musical development of its contestants.Jun Hwi Cho has been studying piano since the age of nine. He completed four years in the preparatory Division of the Korean National University of Arts and attended the Korean National Institute for the Gifted in Arts in 2011. Jun Hwi graduated from the Yewon School (Arts Middle School) in 2012 and is now attending the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School. He has won a number of prizes, including Grand Prize in the Yewon Music Competition and First Prize in the Korean Chopin Competition, the Christian Broadcasting System Music Competition, the Eumyoun Music Competition, the Teenagers Music Competition, the Korean Piano Duo Competition, and the Prize of Seoul Children. (Dep. Arts)He has performed many concerts, including a Kumho Prodigy Concert and Juilliard Pre-College Student Recital. He has also performed in the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS TV) Classic Program, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Prodigy Concert, the 26th Young Musicians Concert in Korea, and a Kumho Prodigy Trio Concert. In addition, he performed with the Korean W. Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bucheon Synphonia Orchestra in Seoul, Korea. Since 2007, Jun Hwi has been studying with Choong-Mo Kang at The Juilliard School. Jenny Jung Yeon Lee is currently pursuing her Bachelor's Degree under the tutelage of distinguished professor Menahem Pressler at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where she is a recipient of the prestigious Barbara and David Jacobs Scholarship.Ms. Lee's piano studies began at the age of five in Seoul, South Korea with Mee Jung Yoo. Upon arrival in the United States in 2001, she studied with Victoria Dondysh before being accepted into the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division in 2003 under the instruction of Marc Silverman. Because she strongly believes in the importance of giving back to the community, Ms. Lee previously served as the Vice President of the Share Your Talent Association, a nonprofit organization that holds benefit concerts for the Youth Council for the Homeless.In past summers, Jenny participated in music programs at the Indiana University Piano Academy, Duxbury Music Festival, Academic Internationale de Courchevel in France, and the Pilsen International Music Academy in the Czech Republic where she gave chamber and solo performances. In addition, Jenny worked with legendary pianist Menahem Pressler in the Master Class Series at the Adamant Music School in Vermont and was invited by the Behre Piano Associates, Inc. to perform in Weill Recital Hall as part of the 61st Annual Adamant Music School Benefit Concert.Jenny received top prizes in the Eumag Choonchu Competition, American Protege International Competition for Piano and Strings, the Young Pianists of New Jersey Competition, the Steinway Society Scholarship Competition, and the New Jersey Music Teachers Association Competition. She had been a semi-finalist of the 2012 Camerata Virtuosi Young Artists International Competition and the 2012 International Keyboard Odyssiad. Ms. Lee has performed in masterclasses and drew inspiration from Nelita True, Alexander Kobrin, Seta Tanyel, Ivan Klansky, and Zenon Fishbein. As an active chamber musician, Jenny has also played in ensembles under the guidance of Eric Kim, Rodney Friend, Michelle Lacourse, Anna Pelekh, John Forconi, and Elizabeth Faidley.Jenny is a graduate of the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts at the Bergen County Academies as a Tri-M Music Honor Society Student. She also graduated from the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division where she studied with Jeffrey Cohen since 2007, and was awarded the 2012 Elva Van Gelder Memorial Scholarship.Minjei Yang graduated from Sunhwa Art High School (Korea), where he was under the tutelage of Joo Young, Kim. In 2009 he enrolled at the Central music school (College) at the P.I. Tchaikovsky Moscow state Conservatory (Russia), and is now studying at the Moscow state Conservatory P. I. under Aleksey Nasedkin.He has taken top prizes at the 2013 I International Piano Competition "Citta di Spoleto" (Italy), the Moscow Regional Youth Competition "Dedicated to Sergei Prokofiev" (Russia), the Musical Magazine Competition (Korea), the International Competition "21st Century Art"(Finland) and the VII International Piano Competition for Young Musicians "Dedication to Ferenc Liszt" (Russia), Diploma.For further information, please contact Hemsing Associates at (212) 772-1132 or visit www.hemsingpr.com
|
The Seoul Times
Shinheungro 25-gil 2-6
Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea
04337 (ZC) Office: 82-10-6606-6188 Email:seoultimes@gmail.com Copyrights 2000 The Seoul Times Company ST Banner Exchange |