Fall 2005 The semi-annual publication of the Chopin Foundation of the United States, Inc. Yamaha? Steinway? Chopin Foundation of the United States, Inc. Officers & Directors cÉÄÉÇt|áx Blanka A. Rosenstiel — Founder & President Fall 2005 Olga Melin — Vice President Volume XIV—Number 2 Kris Lewicki — Treasurer Adam Aleksander Wegrzynek — Artistic Advisor Jadwiga “Viga” Gewert — Executive Director Directors Table of Contents Helen Belvin, George Berberian, Mercedes Ferré, Peter Goodrich, Dr. Tomasz A. Grabczak, Dr. William Hipp, Harriet Irsay, Mack McCray, Edmund Sadowski, Message from the Founder and President 1 Jerzy Stryjniak, Stan Zielinski. Intl. Competition Winners and Finalists 2 International Artistic Advisory Council Agustin Anievas, Martha Argerich, Emanuel Ax, Jeffrey N. Babcock, John Bayless, 2005 Trip to Warsaw 3 - 5 Luiz Fernando Benedini, John Corigliano, Ivan Davis, Christopher T. Dunworth, Charles Dutoit, Marian Filar, Nelson Freire, Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Gary Graff- Regional Council Contacts 6 man, Horacio Gutierrez, Leonid Hambro, Marta Istomin, Byron Janis, James Judd, Cyprien Katsaris, Zoltan Koscis, Jacob Lateiner, Garrick Ohlsson, Paloma Regional Council Activities 7 - 12 O’Shea, Daniel Pollack, Maurizio Pollini, Abbey Simon, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Michael Tilson Thomas, Charles Wadsworth, Susan Wadsworth, Krystian Zimer- How to Play Chopin? 13 man Scholarship Report 14 Editorial: Polonaise is published semi-annually by the Scholarship Recipients 15 Chopin Foundation of the United States, Inc. 1440 79th Street Causeway, Suite 117, Miami, FL 33141 Scholarship Rules and Application 16 - 17 Editorial Office: 305-868-0624 • 305-865-5150 (Fax) E-mail: [email protected] • Website: www.chopin.org CD’s to Support the Cause 18 Publisher: Lady Blanka A. Rosenstiel Executive Editor: Jadwiga Gewert Become a Donor 19 - 20 Other Contributors: Helen Belvin, Bess Kronowitz, Mack McCray, Walter Bea- man, Jerzy Stryjniak, Jan Popis. Photos: Jadwiga Gewert, Dominik Skurzak, Eldris de la Torre, Charles Allen Smith Copyright © 2005 Chopin Foundation of the United States, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed by Dynacolor Graphics, Inc. Message from the Founder and President “The culmination is simplicity. Having overcome all the difficul- Blanka A. Rosenstiel ties, having played thousands of notes, one arrives at a charming simplicity that is the pinnacle of art. Whoever tries to achieve this immediately will never reach it at all. One cannot start from the end. It is not an easy task; one has to study hard, very hard, to achieve this goal.” Frederic Chopin In the meantime, of course, the Chopin Foundation will Dear Friends and Supporters of the continue its mission of helping young talented American pianists Chopin Foundation of the U.S.: in their career growth. The Scholarship program will be contin- ued, the concert series featuring young pianists will be going on, as well. It is such a joy to announce to Our Regional Councils have undergone some personal you that the Fifteenth International Cho- changes lately. There are new Presidents in three of them: in New pin Piano Competition was won by Rafal Blechacz, the first Pole York – Jerzy Stryjniak, in Seattle – Helen Belvin, and in San to win this competition since Kristian Zimerman in 1975! Francisco – Mack McCray. Their enthusiasm and dedication – We all congratulate him sincerely and wish him a wonderfully with the assistance of their Boards of Directors – will certainly successful career. push the Councils activities to new dimensions. The Chopin To be among the finalists of that Competition is already a Foundation’s Board and I appreciate your commitment and thank huge achievement for a young pianist who is embarking on a ca- you for taking on this responsibility. I am sure that together we reer. Our best wishes to the finalists and to all of the contestants, will prepare spectacular festivities celebrating the 200 anniver- whose talent and endless hours of practicing deserve great ap- sary of Frederic Chopin’s birth. His music will sound all over the plause! I am sure we will hear about their successes in the near United States. future. Now, while following the careers of the winners, we start I hope all of our old and new friends and supporters will stay with preparations to the celebrations for the 200 anniversary of us for the years to come and will continue helping us in our work Frederic Chopin’s birth in 2010. It will also be the year of the by attending our events and supporting us financially. Eighth National Chopin Piano Competition here in Miami and the XVI International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. 1 2005 International Chopin Piano Competition Finalists and Winners 1st Prize Mr Rafał Blechacz Poland 2nd Prize Not awarded 3rd Prize Mr Dong Hyek Lim South Korea Mr Dong Min Lim South Korea 4th Prize Mr Shohei Sekimoto Japan Mr Takashi Yamamoto Japan 5th Prize Not awarded 6th Prize Ms Ka Ling Colleen Lee China-Hong Kong and six equivalent mentions Mr Jacek Kortus - Poland Ms Rachel Naomi Kudo - USA Ms Rieko Nezu - Japan Ms Yuma Osaki - Japan Ms Yeol Eum Son - South Korea Mr Andrey Yaroshinskiy - Russia Special Prizes have been awarded for the best performance of polonaise: Mr Rafał Blechacz – Poland for the best performance of mazurkas: Mr Rafał Blechacz – Poland for the best performance of a concerto: Mr Rafał Blechacz – Poland 2 The 2005 Trip To Warsaw Message from the Executive Director Jadwiga Gewert A very humble, 20-year old Pole, Rafal Blechacz, performed “That Chopin guy is the tricky one – whenever I beautifully and poetically, getting closest of all to that unique Chopin try to catch him, he escapes ...” spirit. He is the first Polish pianist to win this competition since Krys- Sviatoslav Richter tian Zimerman’s victory in 1975. Blechacz impressed Almost 300 young talented pianists from the judges so much that they around the world arrived in Warsaw in September also gave him special prizes for the live auditions to the Fifteenth International Chopin Piano for the best performances in all Competition, to get selected as contestants. Eighty made it to the first three musical categories of the round – then there were thirty-two … and then only twelve in the fi- competition: mazurka, polo- nals. From among those lucky twelve, jurors selected medalists and naise and concerto. All world prize winners. concert halls are open for him, As at every competition, the jury decision evokes discussions, and a great career is waiting! especially among those who didn’t make it. But the jury decision is We wish him the best! final. We have a winner! We are very happy for Rachel Naomi Kudo, Second Prize Winner at the American National Chopin Piano Com- petition last March, who was the only American making it to finals of the International Cho- pin Competition. Congratula- tions Rachel! Every five years a group of American followers of the American Competition’s winners go to Warsaw to enjoy the special atmosphere which pervades that city during the Competition. Seventeen music lovers joined me this year on that trip. Rafal Blechacz receives his gold medal from President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski 3 And we all had a wonderful time! Even the weather cooper- ated. The sun shone warmly on the splendid golden rug of leaves in numerous enchanting parks of Warsaw, where the sunny breeze brought that special aroma of autumn. Everything in Warsaw bene- fited from this unique golden shine: the La- zienki Park, where the most famous Chopin monument towers over the field of red roses singing for him his beloved mazurkas; the Old Town, which charms visitors with its narrow Before the performance, in the elegant foyer of the National streets shielded by the centuries-old fairy-tale- Opera House, we saw a special exhibit of works by the late Polish like houses; and the view of the Vistula River painter, Jerzy Duda-Gracz, a tribute to the music of Chopin. It con- with its broad inviting boulevards. We visited sists of 295 pictures and is the largest original series in the history of Zelazowa Wola, Chopin’s birthplace, the Polish paintings. The exhibit is divided into 15 series. Each features apartment where Chopin’s family lived before paintings interpreting the great composer’s individual works: bal- he left Poland, Holy Cross Church, where his lades, etudes, mazurkas and concertos. heart is buried, and where the Mozart Req- Ruth Slenczynska- uiem is performed every October 17. And on Kerr before the our way we took photos of the monuments of Chopin Memorial great sons of Poland, such as Ignacy Jan Pad- erewski, Adam Mickiewicz and Nicolas Co- pernicus. We were lucky to attend the Warsaw premier of Andrea Che- nier, presented by the artistic director of the National Opera House, Mariusz Trelinski, who first staged it in Washington, DC, with Placido Domingo. I would like to thank the Cultural Attaché of the USA Em- bassy for arranging a welcome dinner for the winners of the Ameri- can National Chopin Piano Competition when they arrived for the Americans Preliminary Round, and the Ambassador of the United States to War- arrive at the saw, His Excellency Victor Ashe, who found a moment in his busy National Opera House schedule to meet with us at the National Philharmonic. It was a very nice meeting and we all appreciate that very much. We all look forward to going to Warsaw again in 2010 and celebrating the 200th anniversary of Frederic Chopin’s birth with the best young pianists from all over the world. 4 Photos from Warsaw His Excellency Ambassador of the US in Poland, Victor Ashe (standing center), with the ‘American Group’ Ewa Rubinstein, Prof. Andrzej Jasinski, Rosarita Gonzalez, Emma Monplaisir, Don and Betty Gant and Helen and Antonio Dajer Chair of the Jury, Gus and Carol Anievas Eldris de la Torre at the Philharmonic at the Philharmonic Hall Gera van der Weijden, Don and Betty Gant , Mei-Ting Sun with Jadwiga and Yamaha’s Director of Artist Services, Stan Ruth Slenczynska-Kerr visit I.J.