In 1984, Jon Kimura Parker won the Leeds International Piano Competition, “one of the most prestigious piano competitions in Europe,” writes William Littler in Friday’s (9/14) Toronto Star (Canada). This September, Parker, now artistic director of the triennial Esther Honens International Piano Competition, “Canada’s most esteemed and the world’s richest piano competition … presided over the awarding of a $100,000 prize to the 26-year-old Georgian pianist Nicolas Namoradze…. Perhaps even more important was a three-year career development package valued at $500,000…. Three pianists … made it to the finals, which involved playing a chamber program with the Azahar Ensemble and a concerto with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Karina Canellakis.… Winning or losing doesn’t always matter. The experience of making music at a high level does. That helps explain why the Honens competition … requires competitors not only to play solo recitals but to collaborate in performances with other musicians—this year with baritone Phillip Addis and violinist (and concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra) Jonathan Crow. They also have to participate in individual filmed interviews, talking about their approach to music-making. Having agile fingers is not enough.”
Posted September 18, 2018
