Special awards for Chopin Competition winners
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
23.10.2015 11:19
In addition to the main prizes, the winners and several other outstanding personalities among the participants in 17th International Chopin Piano Competition have received numerous special awards funded by private persons, music institutions and festivals.
South Korea's Seong-Jin Cho, winner of the 17th 17th International Chopin Piano Competition, at the Warsaw Philharmonic on Thursday evening. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
At a ceremony in Warsaw on Thursday, First Prize winner, Seong-Jin Cho of South Korea, was showered with invitations to recitals and concerts.
In coming months, he is to appear in Bergen, Mexico City, Nohant, Essen, Parma, Prague, Sofia, Vancouver, Tokyo and his native Seoul. He will also perform in Poznań and Warsaw.
“I will have to sleep a lot and eat well with so many engagements ahead, but I am really excited at the prospect,” he told Polish Radio.
“I am particularly looking forward to performing at the Easter Beethoven Festival in Warsaw in March 2016,” he said.
The winners of all the six prizes - Seong-Jin Cho, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Kate Liu Eric Lu, Yike (Tony) Yang and Dmitry Shishkin – will go on a tour of Japan and South Korea with the Warsaw Philharmonic. The Canadian pianist Yike (Tony) Yang received a special prize (USD 15,000) for the youngest finalist.
Poland’s only participant in the finals, Szymon Nehring, who received the honourable mention, won the Audience Award in an on-line poll, a cheque for PLN 10,000 for the best Polish entrant and several prestigious engagements, including a tour of Poland with the Santander Orchestra of the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music.
Poland’s Krzysztof Książek, who failed to qualify for the finals, received cash awards funded by the families of two distinguished Polish pianists, Zbigniew Drzewiecki and Edwin Kowalik. (mk/nh/rk)