2018 Winners Of The New York International Piano Competition Announced At Awards Ceremony Held On Friday Night

The 2018 winners of the New York International Piano Competition (TheNYIPC), under the auspices of the Stecher & Horowitz Foundation, were announced at an Awards Ceremony at Manhattan School of Music on Friday evening (June 22). Prizes and awards totaling $50,000 were presented. Robert Sherman served as Master of Ceremonies. The week-long event began on June 18.

Youlan Ji, age 19, from China and a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky at The Juilliard School, was named first-prize winner receiving the Joyce B. Cowin Prize, a $10,000 cash award, and concert and recital appearances. Second prize, a cash award of $6,000 and concerts and recitals was awarded to Zoie Shuk Yi Tse, age 20, from Hong Kong and a student of Alan Chow at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Nejc Kamplet, age 21, from Maribot, Slovenia, a student of Zuzana Niederdorfer at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, was honored with third prize receiving a cash award of $3000, and Yilun Xu, age 21, from China, a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky at The Juilliard School received a cash award of $2,000 as the fourth prize winner. Both Mr. Kamplet and Ms. Xu were awarded concert and recital appearances.

All pianists are required to participate in a One-Piano, Four Hands ensemble performing Beethoven's Sonata in N*E*R*D Major, Op.6 and Barber'sSouvenirs, Waltz and Galop. Awarded the Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz Prize for One-Piano, Four Hands, Ensemble, receiving a cash award of $3,500, to be divided between the winning team, were Michael Davidson, age 21, a student of Robert McDonald at Curtis, andKimberly Han, age 17, from Lake Forest, IL, a student of Alexander Korsantia at the New England Conservatory.

A tie for second prize in the One-Piano, Four Hands Ensemble category went to Yilun Xu and Nejc Kamplet; and Eric Lin, age 17, from Falls Church, VA a student of Marjorie Lee, and Boris Slutsky at the Peabody Conservatory and Carter Johnson, age 21 from Vancover, BC, a student of Mark Anderson at the University of British Columbia. Each ensemble received a cash award of $2,500 to be divided between the winning teams.

A unique feature of The NYIPC is the commissioning of new works by American composers. This year's composer was Gregory Spears, a BMI and ASCAP-winning composer renowned for his operas "Fellow Travelers" and "Paul's Case. " His commissioned work Toccata (Troika), was performed by each pianist. A cash award of $1,500 for the best performance of this work was given to Yiying Niu, age 20, from China, a student of Marc Silverman at Manhattan School of Music.

The 2018 jury was Chaired by Tong-Il Han (South Korea) and also included Lydia Artymiw (US), Ian Hobson (UK/US), John O'Connor (Ireland), Esther Park (US) and Janet Lopinski (Canada).

21 pianists played in the competition's four rounds. No pianist was eliminated throughout the competition, a first in the world of competitions. In addition to the prizes awarded to the winners, each pianist was awarded a finalists cash award of $1000.

Receiving a $1000 finalists cash award were:

· Xinyao Feng, age 21, from China, a student of Jeffrey Cohen, Manhattan School of Music

· Jie Luo, age 16, from China, a student of Xiaohan Wang at Beijng's Central Conservatory of Music's Middle School

· Liam Kaplan, age 20 from Montclair, NJ, a student of Alvin Chow, Oberlin Conservatory of Music

· Siyuan Liu, age 19, from China, a student of Jeffrey Cohen, Manhattan School of Music

· Catherine Ma, age 20, from China, a student of Alexander Korsantia, New England Conservatory

· Coco Ma, age 17, from Canada, a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky, The Julliard School, Pre-College Division

· Millicent McFall, age 18, from Seattle, WA, a student of Ory Shihor, Colburn Music Academy

· Matyas Novak, age 20, from Czech Republic, a student of Jitka Fowler Frankova, Pardubice Consevatoire, Piano Academy, "Incontri col Maestro" Imola

· Ryan Soeyadi, age 19, from Lake Grove, NY, a student of Julian Martin, The Juilliard School

· Angeni Wang, age 19, from Vancouver, Canada, a student of Alan Chow, Eastman School of Music

· Zhehao Wang, age 16, from China, a student of Natalia Flippova, Shanghai Conservatory, Music Middle School

· Muzi Zhao, age 19, from China, a student of James Giles, Northwestern University Bienen School of Music

This year's competition was streamed live and was available for viewing by visiting the website at thenyipc.org. More than 5,000 viewers watched the NYIPC seen in 37 countries.

The New York International Piano Competition is a biennial event that was founded in 2002, open to pianists of all nationalities ages 16-21. The next competition will take place in 2020. Past winners maintain active careers as performers, collaborative pianists, composers and pedagogues and ?include Kate Liu, Charlie Albright, Michael Brown and Esther Park.

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