Anita

In early March of this year, I was extremely fortunate to receive an invitation to perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, New York as a first prize winner in the Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition. Carnegie Hall is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious concert halls in the world and frequently exclusive to performances by internationally acclaimed musicians, so of course I was overjoyed and humbled to be given this opportunity, as well as being excited to travel to New York City for the first time. 

I had chosen to perform Leos Janacek’s Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 ‘From the Street’. This is a rarely performed work in the piano repertoire. However its potent narrative and the challenge in communicating this was what had initially drawn me to learn it. Janacek composed this sonata as a tribute to a worker who was shot by political troops amidst demonstrations in support of a university on 1st October 1905 in Brno, which he himself witnessed. The titles themselves of the movements – Predtucha ( Foreboding ) and Smrt ( Death ) – already allude to its emotional intensity. 

On the day of the performance nerves were inevitable, but in the end my goal was to communicate to the audience the narrative that Janacek had intended, to make them feel the depth of emotions behind this piece of music and of course to enjoy the experience on this special stage. 

International competitions always offer the opportunity to interact with musicians with different musical upbringings and experiences and to be inspired by one another’s mentality towards music-making. Feeding off the positive and restless energy that musicians have for their craft further increases my own ambitions to create better interpretations and performances every time I am onstage. 

This exciting opportunity and worthwhile experience could only be made possible with the assistance of the Theme & Variations Foundation Award. I would like to extend my gratitude to the Foundation for its generosity in continuously opening new doors for us as young pianists.

Thank you for the kind support that the Theme and Variations Foundation has given me through the scholarship. It had really helped me to improve my opportunities as an aspiring performer and artist.

I am grateful to be selected as one of the 42 contestants out of 174 electronic applications for the Aarhus Competition in Denmark. It was a very worthwhile experience; I met contestants from the well-known conservatories around the world, including RAM, Curtis and Eastman. The competition was very well organised; as we arrive at the competition office, we were all given a timetable (akin to the complexity of the London Underground timetable) outlining our spaced-out practice times. We were all assigned a letter and number combination for our identity in the timetable. There was a high degree of professionalism in the competition, including in the high quality of the contestants.

The competition is unique in its adoption of rules from large international competitions. Firstly, it only gives 10 minutes of warm-up time for the 1st round and no warm-up time for the 2nd round. It tests the contestants whether they can adjust to the piano in a short amount of time, which had a heavy touch in this competition. The voting system is also based on large professional competitions, where each competitor receives a Yes or No vote for their performance. This eliminates the chance of mark manipulation during the competition process.

In the competition itself, I progressed to the Semi-Finals but unfortunately didn’t make it to the Finals. Nevertheless, I have learned valuable lessons in competing at such high standards. Most importantly, I have made personal connections with international competitors which (hopefully) will last in my lifetime.

For Calvin’s outstanding performances, click here for Round 1; and click here for Round 2.

Last year in December I was also fortunate to become a prize winner in the Japan Open International Piano Competition. This event was part of 11 Ways to Malta, a series of piano competitions which ran across two years around the world which included over 730 pianists from 11 different countries to participate in the Malta International Piano Competition. The top five performers from each of the 11 countries were selected to perform in Malta. And so, here I was for the first time in Europe! It turned out to be a thoroughly emotional and memorable trip filled with good food, good wine and great music! 

The competition was divided into three rounds, a 20 minute recital, 50 minute recital and a concerto round. In both recital rounds we were required to perform works by local Maltese composers, Alexey Shor and Joseph Vella. Sadly Mr Vella passed away earlier this year, and the festival performed his music throughout the two weeks to commemorate his life. I had previously performed the Childhood Memories suite by Alexey Shor, who commended my playing during the Japan Piano Open. 

There were 70 performers in the first stage, some extraordinary pianists who are prize winners in the Queen Elisabeth, Tchaikovsky and Chopin and competitions. Unfortunately I wasn’t one of the 40 to proceed to the recital round. However I have no regrets in my efforts, and I am already looking to the future. What I cherished on this occasion was the opportunity to listen to other performers. It was incredibly amusing to discover culture and their personalities which arose from their performances. Evidently, it is the pianist’s personality which is the most important factor in occasions such as competitions. 

I had the immense privilege to listen to my childhood idols including pianists Nikolai Lugansky performing Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody and Grigory Sokolov in a recital of Haydn and Schubert. What a moving experience Sokolov’s recital was! His encore of Schubert’s Impromptu Op. 90-4 is a performance that will stay with me for my whole life. The festival also featured other maestros such as Maxim Vengerov, Narek Hakhnazaryan and our local hero Ray Chen, whom I met after his concert. 

I am indebted to the generous support from the Theme and Variations Foundation which enabled me to cover the cost of my flights to Malta. 

Warmest wishes,

Oscar

I am very excited about the Canberra International Music Festival! Thanks to the Theme and Variations Foundation and the Festival Director Roland Peelman, I have been invited to participate as the one of the Festival’s Young Artists. I will be playing in a masterclass with Roger Woodward, give a lunchtime solo recital at the National Gallery of Australia, and play a chamber work as part of another concert.

Roger Woodward is an acclaimed Australian pianist and I am looking forward to working with him on some of my current repertoire. I am sure he will provide me with many original ideas that I will enjoy exploring and weaving into my own interpretations of my pieces. I also hope to gain some insight into his thought processes behind his personal musical choices and how he conveys this to his audiences.

My recital will be on the 3rd of May and I will be playing an all-Busoni program: his transcription of Bach’s Chaconne in D minor, followed by the 10 Variations and Fugue in free form on Chopin’s Prelude in C minor, Op 22. Both of these compositions are based on well-known pieces in their own right: the Chaconne being the final movement from Bach’s Violin Partita No 2 in D minor, and the C minor Prelude is No 20 in Chopin’s set of 24 Preludes, Op 28. I hope I will be able to make it an enjoyable afternoon for everyone present in such an interesting venue!

The chamber work that I will be performing in the ‘Ulysses Now’ Concert on May 2 is titled ‘Angelus’, written by Mary Finsterer for clarinet, cello and piano trio. This is a fairly new work, written and premiered in 2015 by the Melbourne based group, Ensemble Liaison. The Angelus is a traditional Catholic prayer said at 6am, 12noon and 6pm each day – and Finsterer’s composition is based on the famous Millet painting of the same name. The music is also inspired by Gregorian chant, one of the gems of the sacred music tradition. The other musicians for this trio will be (clarinet) and Stephanie Arnold (cello), both of whom I am excited to meet and work with. The composer Magdalenna Krstevska will also be present, which will make the experience even more worthwhile – it is a rare thing for me to be able to play the compositions directly to the composer and receive their invaluable input!

I have also been invited to stay for the rest of the Festival, until May 6, so I will be able to mingle with the other musicians, and soak in the Festival atmosphere! I am very keen to hear some of the spectacular concerts on offer, such as those from the Orava Quartet and Keiko Shichijo. I am very grateful to the Theme and Variations Foundation for this opportunity and I hope to make the most of it!