“Tony Sigi Yun, an 18-year-old Canadian pianist enrolled in the pre-college division of the Juilliard School, has won the China International Music Competition, earning $150,000 and management for three years by Opus 3 Artists in the West and by Armstrong Music and Arts in China,” writes Nicholas Beard in Monday’s (5/20) Musical America (subscription required). “He performed the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts. The other two finalists—17-year-old Russian Alexander Malofeev and 24-year-old American MacKenzie Melemed—took second and third prizes, respectively, worth $75,000 and $30,000…. Five years ago, at age 13, [Tony Siqi Yun] made his orchestral debut with the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing and in Shanghai…. The finals will be available to watch on medici.tv for the next 30 days. China Conservatory President Li-guang Wang indicated there will be a second competition next year, also in Beijing, also entirely state-funded.” The competition took place from May 4 to 21 in Beijing; Yoheved Kaplinsky, chair of the Juilliard School’s piano department, served as jury chair and artistic director. Richard Rodzinski is the competition’s general director.
Posted May 23, 2019
