Manchester International Concerto Competition for Young Pianists: Semi-finalists announced
Following 55 first round entries for the sixth competition in Manchester, our international jury of concert pianists has selected eighteen pianists for the semi-final stage of the competition, to be held in Stoller Hall, Manchester on 23 and 24 August 2019. Entries came from Australia, Eastern Europe, South America, China, Canada and the USA as well as from Europe. Talented pianists all under the age of 23 submitted live, complete recordings of concertos of their own choice for consideration by jury members Enrica Ciccarelli (Italy), Michael Lewin (USA) and Krystian Tkaczewski (Poland). Here are the names of the 2019 semi-finalists along with the works they will perform in Manchester this summer:
Luca Grianti 17, Italy Beethoven 3
Patrick Hideomi Townsend 11, UK Kabalevsky 3
Thomas Kelly 20, UK Tchaikovsky 1
Sunah Kim 18, Korea Beethoven 5
LaLa Lee 19, Canada Schumann
Maria Linares Molero 17, Spain Liszt 1
Daniel Liu 16, UK Mendelssohn g minor
Ilia Lomtatidze 16, Georgia Rachmaninoff no. 2
Maria Matveeva 20, Russia Saint Saens 2
Kasparas Mikužis 18, Lithuania Beethoven No 3
Soli Nallaseth 20, India Mozart No 23 in A 488
Bradley Ng 17, UK Liszt No 2
Qi QI 18, China Tchaikovsky 1
Caitlan Rinaldy 16, Australia Chopin 1
Jeremy Sun 14, Australia Beethoven No 3
Ke Tang 16, China Mozart No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
Eashan Vagish 14, USA Grieg
Noah Zhou 18, UK Rachmaninoff no. 2
All performers who enter the competition receive feedback on the submitted recordings. The competition offers the unique opportunity of a performance with Manchester Camerata in Stoller Hall for up to six finalists. The remaining semi-finalists will all be offered masterclasses with members of the jury on 24 and 25 August.
The finals will be held in Stoller Hall on 25 and 26 August. Whilst the jury are making their final decisions on 26 August, Leeds winner Eric Lu will perform Mozart’s Concerto in A major K488 with Manchester Camerata under Stephen Threlfall, who is once again resident conductor for the competition.
Manchester Camerata is one of the world’s leading ensembles, an orchestra that has performed recently on tour with Marta Argerich. They are currently recording the complete Mozart concerto cycle in Stoller Hall for Chandos with internationally acclaimed French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.