The award ceremony for the winners of NTD’s 6th International Piano Competition. (NTDTV)
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NTD announced the winners of its International Piano Competition in New York on Nov. 2.
Antonii Baryshevskyi from Ukraine won the Gold Award, Jiusi Zhang from China won the Silver Award, and Evangeliya Delizonas-Khukhua from Russia won the Bronze Award. Jiusi Zhang also won the Best Rendition Award of the Commissioned Composition.
Dozens of contestants from around the world competed at the Merkin Concert Hall of the Kaufman Music Center in New York from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1. A Future Stars Concert was held before the award ceremony on Nov. 2. Pianists appearing at the concert included this year’s six competition finalists, as well as the 2014 Competition Gold Award winner Timur Mustakimov, along with professor Mikhail Voskresensky and Russian concert pianist Vassily Primakov.
The International Piano Competition is one in a series of international cultural and arts events hosted by NTD Television Network. The mission of this competition is to promote traditional arts of pure authenticity, pure goodness, and pure beauty, and to bring back the glory of piano masterpieces from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods.
Since 2016, the competition has made a special effort to commission a piano arrangement of a piece by D.F., the artistic director of Shen Yun Performing Arts, which is a world-renowned music and dance company that has led the way in the revival of traditional Chinese culture through the arts.
This year, the commissioned piece “The Sacred Journey” was arranged by Qin Yuan, a composer and piano accompanist with Shen Yun. Qin is a prolific composer with notable expertise in delivering the melodies and rhythms of ancient Chinese music through the language of classical music as it was established in the West.
Pianists who made it to the semifinals were required to perform this specially commissioned composition. A “Best Rendition Award of the Commissioned Composition” was rewarded for the competition.
Some contestants shared final words with NTD about their experiences in this competition.
“I received a marvelous experience playing here in this hall,” said Gold Award winner Baryshevskyi, who started playing piano at the age of 7, and is a soloist at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. “I enjoyed very much this piano and it’s always a great pleasure for us pianists to play on a good piano that helps us to produce everything that we wanted.”
Trinity Goff from the United States is currently studying with Jean-David Coen of Willamette University in Oregon. She is one of the three finalists who won the Outstanding Performance Award. “It’s really fun to be around other musicians who are great, to be in the city, to perform in this great venue, and to have these opportunities,” she said. “I think it’s been very inspirational and will carry over into the rest of my life.”
Audience members expressed their appreciation for the competition and its mission.
“Classical music is some the most brilliant music that has been created in this world. And it would be very lost to the world if we did not continue to appreciate and judge it, so to speak,” one audience member said.
Paninya Masrangsen, sister of Outstanding Award winner Aruth Masrangsan, said: “It’s been a very good experience to see all of these rising stars, performers perform. You can feel the energy and their skills radiating off the stage. It’s been amazing, really.”
Full List of Winners
Gold Award: Antonii Baryshevskyi from Ukraine
Silver Award: Jiusi Zhang from China
Bronze Award: Evangeliya Delizonas-Khukhua from Russia
Best Rendition Award of the Commissioned Composition: Jiusi Zhang from China
Outstanding Performance Award:
Aruth Masrangsan from Thailand
Yung-Yi Chen from Taiwan
Trinity Goff from the United States
Honorable Mention Award:
Aron Alakmeh from Switzerland
Boris Krivoshein from Russia
Carolina Danise from Italy
Ilya Ramlav from Russia
Maria Narodytska from Ukraine
Tiago Rosario from Portugal
Xizhu Liang from China