Ivona Kaminska and Chris Bowlby, who run the Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah, Washington, “co-founded the Seattle International Piano Festival & Competition (SIPFC) in 2008 to reward talent regardless of age, gender or appearance,” writes Gemma Alexander in Friday’s (10/11) Seattle Times. “This year, nearly 300 competitors of all ages from 23 different countries entered the eighth [biennial competition].… The 37 best will perform at Benaroya Hall Oct. 12-14…. To make the competition less expensive and stressful for competitors—and more entertaining for audiences—SIPFC … condenses what is usually a weeklong event into three days. ‘There are no age limits. There is no set program requirement, either,’ … says Kaminska. But the biggest difference is the judging. ‘We’re one of the few competitions that run entirely blind,’ … says Bowlby. At the finals, judges are seated behind screens…. ‘If you examine our list of results, the winners are predominantly female. That is not true elsewhere,’ says Bowlby…. For [youth and adult amateur] categories, there is only a single round of remote judging, and only the winners perform at the festival…. [Finalists] in the fully competitive categories [vie for prizes] worth between $250 and $3,000.”
Posted October 11, 2019
