“The World Piano Competition will now be known as the Cincinnati World Piano Competition. The Artist Division, which has a top prize of $20,000, will be held every three years, instead of annually,” writes Janelle Gelfand in Sunday’s (9/28) Cincinnati Enquirer. “On alternate years, there will be a Young Artist Competition and an all-new Amateur Competition. And for the first time in Cincinnati … pianists will be placed in head-to-head brackets, like a tennis tournament. And there will be more activities for young professionals, aimed at introducing post-baby-boomers to the joys of classical piano music. The changes are being made to the 58-year-old organization because, organizers say, they are listening to the audience…. The new amateur division, says board member Jennifer McFarland Barrett, ‘will open the competition up to a much wider competitor audience.’ Barrett, a conservatory-trained pianist who works for Franklin Templeton, says the board is focused on building ‘a more diverse and sustainable audience.’ ” The Artist Division competition will take place in 2015, culminating with a final concerto round with the Cincinnati Symphony. The Young Artist Competition, for contestants in their teens, will take place in 2016; and the inaugural Amateur Competition is scheduled for 2017.
Posted October 1, 2014
