What a wonderful concert!  It seems the prizewinners’ concerts in this competition are more stunning each year.  The audience was large and full of anticipation and, let me assure you, it was not disappointed.

     This first prizewinner in Category A was Eloise Kim.  She is eleven years old, born in Seoul, Korea but moved to the state of Oregon at 2 months of age.  It is a little disconcerting to hear an eleven-year-old play better than most adults.  Ms. Kim is exceptionally musical, has an excellent technique, a big and full sound and a secure knowledge of each piece she performed.

     Her “Prelude” from the J. S. Bach Suite II was clean, articulate and energized.  The voicing and control was professional and the style was right on target.  She then played the Allegro of the lyrical Beethoven “Sonata, Op. 28”.  A secure and polished performance, the orchestral highlighting usually found in Beethoven’s music, even his lyrical music, was pushed aside in favor of generally a singing right hand and an accompanying left hand.  The Schubert “Impromptu in A Flat” was full of haunting right hand figuration but when the left hand melody appeared it was overshadowed by the same right hand figuration.  An encore is not usually a major work, but in this case, following her standing ovation, Ms. Kim played the Second Ballade of Chopin.  To perform such a work with poise and confidence and accuracy is no small feat and she handled it heroically.  However, here again, I found the textures to be limited to a right hand melody and left hand accompaniment without the myriad textures and delicate whimsy often associated with this lovely work.

     Questionings aside, Eloise Kim is a major talent and her first prize justly earned.  I would be most eager to hear her again, frequently.

     Category B’s first prize was captured by thirteen year old Jui Li, from China.  A young pianist full of fire and brilliance, his playing was a delight, his technique astonishing.  He opened with the “Prelude and Fugue in E Major” from WTC-I by J. S. Bach.  His articulation was interesting and dynamic in the Prelude and he built up great excitement in the Fugue.  The “Four Pieces, Op. 4” of Prokofiev were filled with vivid characterizations and splashes of well-controlled brilliance balanced by an innate lyricism.  The “Heart Song of Minduo Li” was a stunning work, stunningly performed.  The Chopin “Etude Op. 10, No. 2” was technically flawless and musically filled with delicate nuances and the “La Campanella” of Liszt was full of virtuosic flair and fire.  I felt the “Symphonic Etudes” of Schumann were delivered in the same matter-of-fact virtuoso style as the “La Campanella”—something, which I think, might have displeased both Robert and Clara Schumann.  The fast speeds and bravura effects for their own sake do not work well on a German soul such as Schumann’s that was steeped in music as an expression of an inner striving coupled with a rejection of the entertainment aspects of art.  Granted, this is my opinion but this is a work that will probably change considerably as Jiu Li ages with it.  As an encore he played the “A minor Etude, Op. 25, No. 11” of Chopin.  Probably due to the excitement of the concert and the standing ovation his playing received, this Etude was far faster than it could be musically or accurately performed.  A major and fiery talent, I look forward to hearing Jiu Li many times in the future.

      The Category C Armenian pianist, Karen Hakobyan, is eighteen years old, also an honored composer and is currently studying at the University of Utah with Dr. Susan Duehlmeier.  It is very difficult for me to be objective with this pianist.  I am seldom moved to tears by performances any longer and even more seldom so delighted with breath-taking playing that I feel like dancing.  Both were evoked during this young man’s performance.

      His first movement of the Haydn “E-Flat Major Sonata” was full-bodied and joyous.  Lately it seems that more crystalline Haydn is being heard but not so in this case.  Visions of Beethoven were in the near future.  The Prokofiev “4^th Movement of the 6^th Sonata” was a revelation.  I usually only hear music taking its form out of sheer space during Beethoven’s music but this time this work, in this pianist’s hands, accomplished the feat.  This can usually only be done by an innate, gut feeling for a work and the composer in Mr. Hakobyan perhaps had a hand in this performance.  The “B-minor Moments Musicaux” of Rachmaninov was brimming with a controlled, intense despair and the “E minor Moments Musicaux” was Rachmaninov playing at its most brilliant.  The “2^nd Hungarian Rhapsody” of Liszt was a surprise.  I might have expected the “Schumann Phantasie” instead.  But it was a most pleasant surprise:  wonderful, sweeping, honest bravura performance without the gimmickry of percussive, near miss excitement.  There didn’t seem to be a measure that the pianist didn’t totally control and enjoy, as did the audience as it gave him an enthusiastic standing ovation full of bravos.  For an encore Mr. Hakobyan gave us a thundering “C minor Etude, Op. 25, No. 12” of Chopin.

     There are a lot of “bangers” on stage today posing as virtuosos. It is a distinct pleasure to count Karen Hakobyan as among the pianists whose virtuosity is at the service of the music.

     At the close of the concert, the president of the competition, Dr. Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi introduced the judges and awarded the well-deserved prizes to these gifted young people.  It is a sobering and invaluable experience to hear what our young musicians throughout the world are doing with their music.  I am sure everyone in the audience is grateful to the Pinault Musical Society for giving us this opportunity through their competition.

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