Seventh New York International Piano Competition to Be Held at The Manhattan School of Music, 6/22-27

The Seventh New York International Piano Competition (NYIPC), presented under the auspices of The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation of New York, will be held at The Manhattan School of Music from Sunday, June 22 through Friday, June 27, 2014. All events are open to the public. The competition will take place in four rounds, and will also include a seminar with Gabriela Lena Frank, this year's chosen composer for the NYIPC Commissioned Composition, moderated by WQXR host Robert Sherman on Thursday, June 26 at 7:00 p.m. as well as a masterclass with Jury members on Friday, June 27, at 2:00 p.m. The week will close with an Awards Ceremony and Performance by the Winners on Friday, June 27 at 7:00 p.m. For a complete schedule, see page 3.

Twenty-two pianists, ages 16-21, will gather from across the globe for the week-long event, which includes four rounds plus a series of masterclasses and seminars. Awards are also given to the best duo, paired at the beginning of the competition, to perform in the ensemble round. Unique to the New York International Piano Competition is its policy of no elimination; each contestant will perform in all four rounds and be judged by a jury of some of the most distinguished members of the music community. Every participant will return home either as a prize winner or finalist award recipient. The level of competition has been uniformly high over the event's 12 year history; former winners have gone on to win the Gilmore Young Artist Award, The Juilliard School's William Petschek Recital Award, the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts at Harvard University, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the 2010 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, and some to become National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Presidential Scholars. This year the 2006 NYIPC First Prize Winner Charlie Albright was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Monetary awards total $40,000, but just as important as the monetary awards are the opportunities for concert and recital appearances that are awarded to winners and finalists. Held every two years, the New York International Piano Competition is dedicated to providing artistic development, educational enhancement, seminars, master classes, and performance opportunities. This year's jurors include Jane Coop, Tong-Il Han, Jon Nakamatsu, Thomas Schumacher, Orli Shaham, and Jeffrey Swann.

The internationally lauded composer Gabriela Lena Frank has been commissioned by the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation to compose a "required" piece for this year's competition that will be learned and performed by all contestants. Identity has always been at the center of Gabriela Lena Frank's music. Born in Berkley, California, to a mother of mixed Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/ Jewish descent, Frank explores her multicultural heritage most ardently through her compositions. Inspired by the works of Bela Bartok, Alberto Ginestera, and Chou Wen Chung, Frank is something of a musical anthropologist. She has traveled extensively throughout South America, and her pieces reflect and refract her studies of Latin- American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own. In addition to frequently collaborating with Pulitzer playwright Nilo Cruz on vocal works, Gabriela Frank has written for leading artists: soprano Dawn Upshaw, cellist Yo Yo Ma, and pre-eminent chamber groups and symphonies. The Chicago Tribune's chief critic John von Rein wrote a feature story on Ms. Frank in 2011 in which he described her as, "one of the most compelling composers on today's new music scene, whose works are widely performed just about everywhere."

The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, a non-profit organization, is an outgrowth of the renowned Stecher and Horowitz School of the Arts which was founded in 1960 in Cedarhurst, New York. Until 1999 the school was Nassau County's leading conservatory of music, attended by some 15,000 students during its thirty-nine year history. The Foundation is now dedicated to an expanded concept that seeks to inspire and support outstanding young musicians worldwide.

Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz, Executive Directors of the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, have devoted a lifetime to the musical education of young people. Internationally recognized as one of the most distinguished duo-piano teams of their generation, Stecher and Horowitz are equally renowned for their multi-faceted activities as performers, teachers, composers and educational consultants - activities that have earned them a unique position in the world of music. Having been co-directors of the Stecher and Horowitz School of the Arts for 39 years, (1960-1999) it was apparent to both principals that the most important years for developing interested young musicians were the pre-teen years and into the early twenties, a good decade of concentrated and formative development. The New York Piano Competition was originally founded on this premise.

In 2009, the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation announced two major changes in its biennial New York Piano Competition (NYPC). For the first time the Competition accepted contestant applications from outside the United States effective for the summer of 2010, a change in the procedures of accepting applications only from students (American or foreign) who were pursuing studies in the United States. Since then Competition is known as the New York International Piano Competition. In addition, it expanded its age category upwards from 14-18 years to 16-21 years - this affords contestants in the late teens the opportunity to interact musically with promising young adults, serving as a challenging incentive toward greater achievement. The original concept of allowing all contestants to complete their participation without elimination remained the same, fostering the fullest musical interaction between contestants throughout the entire span of the competition. The New York International Piano Competition remains true to its predecessor's philosophy that the primary goal of a musical competition is to further the musical development of its contestants.

2014 NYIPC Schedule:

Monday, June 23

11:00 a.m. - 12:50 p.m. - Preliminary Round

1:45 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. - Preliminary Round

Tuesday, June 24

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Preliminary Round

2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Semi-Final Round

Wednesday, June 25

10:00 a.m. - 11:50 p.m. - Semi-Final Round

12:45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Semi-Final Round

Thursday, June 26

9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Final Round

2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Final Round

7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. - Seminar with Gabriela Lena Frank: moderated by Robert Sherman

Friday, June 27

9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Ensemble Round: One Piano, Four-Hands

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. - Master Classes: Contestants perform in a Master Class with a member of the Jury.

7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. - Awards Ceremony and Performance by Winners (Ticketed event)

For further information, visit stecherandhorowitz.org or call 212 581 8380.