Honens International Piano Competition Seeks Applicants for 8th Edition; Quarterfinals Set for Berlin, London, NY in Spring 2015

Calgary-based Honens International Piano Competition will begin accepting applications for its eighth edition beginning September 30, 2014. The Competition's Quarterfinals take place in Berlin, London and New York in spring, 2015. Semifinals and Finals take place in Calgary from September 3 to 12, 2015. Pianists of all nationalities, aged 20 to 30 on September 3, 2015 (with the exception of past Honens Laureates and professionally managed pianists), may apply until February 2, 2015 at honens.com.

Honens, a pioneer in delivering a comprehensive artistic and career development program to its Laureates since its first edition in 1992, continues to intensify its search for the unique, imaginative and informed talent that comprises the 'Complete Artist'.

Conservatories and competitions now discover and graduate an abundance of potential professionals. With limited performance opportunities, and other challenges faced by emerging artists, it is more important than ever that competitions are designed to discover musicians with distinct musical personalities and the greatest career potential, thereby serving as a respected and meaningful audition process for the world's music community.

"Enhancements made to the 2012 Honens Competition -- which included changes to pianist eligibility, competition length, jury composition, repertory and interview requirements, and the naming of a single Laureate -- were a response to the changing role of today's music competitions," said Honens' President and Artistic Director, Stephen McHolm. "Not only did these changes create the desired festival atmosphere rather than one of a knock 'em down blood-sport event; they set the stage for three years of meaningful artistic and career development of Honens Prize Laureate Pavel Kolesnikov."

The Competition takes another step forward in 2015 by reducing the number of Finalists from five to three in order to allow time for two performances with orchestra -- a Classical and a post-Classical piano concerto -- and by asking all pianists to perform a broader range of piano repertory. "Honens believes that a Complete Artist explores both the pivotal works of the piano literature and the music of our time," added McHolm. "Candidates are therefore encouraged to include works composed during the past 50 years in their Competition solo and/or collaborative recital programs."

The Honens International Piano Competition takes place every three years as part of the annual Honens Festival -- Canada's International Festival of Piano. The Competition searches for an emerging Complete Artist -- a 21st century pianist for 21st century audiences. The Honens Prize Laureate is awarded $100,000 CAN and an artistic and career development program valued at a half million dollars -- the largest prize of its kind.

JURIES

With today's application launch, Honens also announced the juries and collaborating artists for 2015. The Honens juries include concert pianists and other music professionals who play a meaningful role in a concert artist's career, such as artist managers, collaborative musicians, concert and festival presenters and producers, conductors and recording professionals. All jurors have extensive knowledge of the piano literature and represent and/or are aware of the qualities an artist must possess in order to build and sustain a career in today's music world.

Applicant Screening Jury

The Applicant Screening Jury, made up of four members including Honens' President & Artistic Director, evaluates candidate applications based on proposed Competition programming, experience relative to age, and reference letters. The jury selects 50 pianists to advance to the Quarterfinals: International Audition Round.

First Jury: Quarterfinals

The First Jury, made up of four members, meets at The Banff Centre for a week to evaluate the fifty, 40-minute Quarterfinals recitals and interviews with an arts journalist that have been video-recorded in Berlin, London and New York. The jury selects ten pianists to advance to the Semifinals in Calgary.

Second Jury: Semifinals and Finals

The Second Jury, made up of seven members, evaluates ten Semifinalist pianists who each perform a 65-minute solo recital and a 65-minute collaborative recital. They choose three pianists to advance to the Finals for performances of two concertos with orchestra and a second interview with an arts journalist. The Second Jury ultimately chooses the Honens Prize Laureate.

COLLABORATING ARTISTS

Honens also intensifies its collaborative performance requirements for 2015. Solo performance, chamber music and collaboration with orchestra are all equally essential for a 21st century concert pianist. These elements are therefore integral to Honens' search for the Complete Artist. Semifinalists collaborate as a duo with a clarinetist and/or violist and as a trio with both instrumentalists. They also collaborate with a singer in a selection of art song/lieder. Finalists perform two concertos with orchestra. The choice of collaborating musicians allows for both a meaningful musical collaboration and a mentorship opportunity for all Competition pianists.

Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano

James Campbell, clarinet

Hsin-Yun Huang, viola

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor

HONENS - Honens discovers, nurtures and presents Complete Artists -- 21st century pianists for 21st century audiences. Calgary philanthropist Esther Honens dreamed of discovering and launching the careers of the world's most promising pianists. In 1991, she established the Honens Foundation with a gift of $5 million, creating a legacy for musicians and music-lovers around the world. Today, the Honens International Piano Competition takes place every three years as part of the Honens Festival-Canada's International Festival of Piano. The Honens Prize for Piano -- $100,000 CAN and an artistic and career development program valued at a half million dollars -- is the largest prize of its kind. Honens is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.

PAVEL KOLESNIKOV (Honens Prize Laureate 2012) - The Telegraph (London) called Pavel Kolesnikov's January 2014 Wigmore Hall debut "one of the most memorable of such occasions London has witnessed in a while." Since being named Honens Prize Laureate in 2012, Kolesnikov has been winning hearts around the world. His 2014-15 season is filled with significant performances including debuts at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Berlin's Konzerthaus, the Louvre (Paris), the Vancouver Recital Society, and with the London Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony Orchestras. His Hyperion recording of Tchaikovsky's intimate Seasons garnered raves from critics this summer, including those from The Telegraph, The Sunday Times and The New York Times, which wrote: "That the impressive young pianist Pavel Kolesnikov loves this suite comes through in his elegant playing on this welcome recording." London-based, Kolesnikov was born in Siberia into a family of scientists. He studied both the piano and violin for ten years, before concentrating solely on the piano. He has studied at Moscow State Conservatory with Sergey Dorensky, at London's Royal College of Music with Norma Fisher and at Brussels' Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel with Maria João Pires thanks to the generous support of Mr. Christopher D. Budden, the RCM Scholarship Foundation and Hattori Foundation. In fall 2014, Kolesnikov was named one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists for 2014 to 2016, a program that provides opportunities to develop live and recorded performances, including broadcasts with the BBC orchestras.

MORE ABOUT THE JURIES

Applicant Screening Jury

Tema Blackstone

Tema Blackstone is a multi-faceted pianist, music presenter, artist manager, educator and arts advocate. Since 1989 she has concertized exclusively with duo partner and husband, Hung-Kuan Chen, and today also teaches at Boston's Walnut Hill School and New England Conservatory's Preparatory School. She previously taught at Mount Royal University Conservatory in Calgary and was a guest professor and lecturer at the International Academy of the Shanghai Conservatory, where she still visits annually. Blackstone received her bachelor's and master's degrees in Piano Performance as well as her Doctorate (ABD) from Boston University. She is in demand as a coach for emerging artists, has taught numerous prize-winning competition musicians and is a regular speaker on the positive effects of the arts on society.

Winston Choi

Canadian pianist Winston Choi is Laureate of the 2003 Honens International Piano Competition. Since his win at Honens, Choi has performed at some of the world's most important concert venues, including Canada's National Arts Centre and Glenn Gould Studio, New York's Merkin Recital Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Paris' Salle Cortot. He is an inquisitive performer whose fresh approach to standard repertory and masterful understanding and performance of and commitment to works by living composers makes him one of today's most dynamic young concert artists. He has premiered and commissioned over 100 works by young composers as well as established masters and has collaborated with composers William Bolcom, Elliott Carter, Brian Ferneyhough, Bright Sheng and John Zorn. BBC Music Magazine calls his recording of the complete piano works of Elliott Carter "... sheer élan and pianistic devilment." Choi is Assistant Professor and Head of Piano at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts.

Stephen McHolm

Stephen McHolm has been chief artistic and administrative officer of The Esther Honens International Piano Competition Foundation since 2004. He is described as a "rebel and revolutionary" by Calgary's Avenue Magazine -- a testament to his work in making a 'new Calgary' seen and heard around the world today. Under his leadership, Honens has become one of Canada's farthest-reaching arts organizations, bringing the city and the nation to the attention of the world's music capitals, while launching the careers of deserving emerging concert artists. In 2012, McHolm was honored with the Rozsa Award for Excellence in Arts Management-the only prize of its kind in Canada to recognize the development and implementation of outstanding administrative practices in the arts while encouraging artistic innovation. In 2013, he was named an Honorary Fellow of Canada's Royal Conservatory of Music for his contribution to classical music and arts education around the world, joining a distinguished group that includes Measha Brueggergosman, David Foster and Oscar Peterson.

James Parker

In solo, chamber, and orchestral concerts across Europe, the United States and Canada, pianist James Parker reveals technical prowess alongside subtle artistry. Parker achieved prominence with his First Place win at the 1984 Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, and went on to capture major prizes, including CBC Radio's 25th National Competition for Young Performers, Juilliard's concerto competition, and the Virginia P. Moore Award as the most promising young classical artist in Canada. He began piano studies in his hometown of Vancouver with Lee Kum-Sing and earned a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Adele Marcus. Parker is a member of Canada's Gryphon Trio and is Associate Professor, Piano at the University of Toronto where he also holds the Rupert E. Edwards Chair in Piano Performance.

First Jury: Quarterfinals

Inon Barnatan

Hailed as "a true poet of the keyboard, refined, searching [and] unfailingly communicative" (Evening Standard, London), pianist Inon Barnatan is the New York Philharmonic's first Artist in Association, a three-season appointment highlighted by multiple concerto and chamber collaborations with the orchestra. Equally commanding in recital, the Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient's recent Kennedy Center solo debut prompted the Washington Post to marvel: "Although there was firecracker technique on display, it was Barnatan's intelligence, musicality and story-telling ability that most impressed." Born in Tel Aviv in 1979, Inon Barnatan started piano at age three and made his orchestral debut at 11. His studies connect him to some of the last century's most distinguished pianists and teachers: he studied with Professor Victor Derevianko, himself a pupil of Russian master Heinrich Neuhaus, before studying with Maria Curcio -- a student of the legendary Artur Schnabel -- and Christopher Elton at London's Royal Academy of Music. He has since been taught and mentored by Leon Fleisher. Inon Barnatan serves on the First Jury of the Honens International Piano Competition in 2015 thanks to support from the Sir Jack Lyons Charitable Trust.

William Lyne

Australian-born, William Lyne was appointed Director of Wigmore Hall in October 1966 and, during his 37 years in this position, transformed the Hall into a much loved recital and chamber music venue. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II recognized his services to the Arts with the award of the CBE in the Queen's Jubilee Birthday Honours list in 2002. At the same time, he was honored by the Australian government with the AM. Other awards and honors include an MBE in 1986, 'Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' (France) in 1996, the Austrian Grand Cross of Honour for Science and the Arts, First Class 2001, the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement for Classical Music 1997, the Cobbett Medal for services to the Art of Chamber Music 2001, the Ambassador for London Award: Lifetime Achievement 1997 and the International Artist Managers' Association Special Award 2003. He is an honorary member of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music and holds an Honorary Fellowship of Trinity College of Music.

Hélène Mercier

Paris-based, Montreal-born pianist Hélène Mercier is a 'Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' (France) and regularly performs at her adopted country's most well-known festivals, including those in Aix-en-Provence, Menton, Colmar, Nohant, Evian, Reims, La Chaise-Dieu, Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse and Radio-France in Montpellier. She is an active soloist and collaborator on the world's most prestigious stages: Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Pleyel and Salle Gaveau (Paris), Southbank Centre (London), Berlin's Konzerthaus and Leipzig's Gewandhaus, Salle Flagey (Brussels), as well as at major cultural centers throughout Europe and North America. She has appeared with notable orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta, the Russian National Orchestra with Vladimir Spivakov, and in Canada with the Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras under the direction of Charles Dutoit. Mercier began her piano studies at age six and quickly won recognition at the Quebec and Canadian Music Competitions in piano solo and piano-violin. She studied with Dieter Weber at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Sasha Gorodnitski at The Juilliard School, Pierre Sancan at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, and with Germaine Mounier at École Normale de Musique. She also worked with Maria Curcio, Stanislav Neuhaus, and, in chamber music, with Gidon Kremer and Henryk Szeryng. Mercier is a regular duo partner with fellow Canadian pianist, Louis Lortie.

Noriko Ogawa

Noriko Ogawa has achieved renown throughout the world since her success at the 1987 Leeds International Piano Competition. Her "ravishingly poetic playing" (The Telegraph) sets her apart from her contemporaries and acclaim for her complete Debussy series with BIS Records confirms her as a Debussy specialist. Ogawa appears with all the major European, Japanese and US orchestras. Her notable chamber projects include a tour of Japan with the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Ensemble and the leader of the Vienna Philharmonic, Rainer Honeck. She has also collaborated with Steven Isserlis, Isabelle van Keulen, Martin Roscoe, Michael Collins and Peter Donohoe. In 2012, Ogawa was Artist in Residence at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, where she was Artistic Director for the Reflections on Debussy festival hosted by the BBC Philharmonic. Her particular affinities also range from the works of Takemitsu, through the larger Romantic composers such as Prokofiev and Rachmaninov, to contemporary concertos commissioned from Graham Fitkin and Dai Fujikura. In Japan, Ogawa acts as artistic advisor to the MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall in her hometown. In 1999, the Japanese Ministry of Education awarded her its Art Prize in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the cultural profile of Japan throughout the world. She has also been awarded the Okura Prize for her outstanding contribution to music in Japan. She is sought-after for being a radio and television host, recently appearing on BBC Worldwide on Visionaries as an advocate for Takemitsu and in programs for NHK and Nippon Television.

Second Jury: Semifinals and Finals

Janina Fialkowska

Janina Fialkowska has enchanted audiences for almost 40 years with her glorious lyrical sound, her sterling musicianship and her profound sense of musical integrity. Born to a Canadian mother and a Polish father in Montreal, Fialkowska began piano studies with her mother at age five. Eventually she entered the École de Musique Vincent d'Indy, studying with Mlle. Yvonne Hubert. In 1969, her career was greatly advanced by two events: winning the first prize in the Radio Canada National Talent Festival and travelling to Paris to study with Yvonne Lefebure. One year later, she entered The Juilliard School, where she first studied with Sascha Gorodnitzki and later became his assistant for five years. In 1974, her career was launched by Arthur Rubinstein after her prize-winning performance at his inaugural Master Piano Competition in Israel.

Fialkowska has performed with the foremost North American orchestras, among them the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Houston Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony as well as with all of the principal Canadian orchestras, including the Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, with which she recorded with Hans Graf. In touring Europe and Asia, she has appeared as guest artist with such prestigious orchestras as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Hallé Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, London's Philharmonia Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, the Scottish National Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic and the French and Belgium National Radio Orchestras as well as the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Janina Fialkowska was the Founding Director of the 'Piano Six' project and its successor 'Piano Plus.' This latest project brought together some of Canada's greatest classical pianists, instrumentalists and vocalists with Canadians who, for either geographical or financial reasons, would otherwise be unable to hear this caliber of live classical performance. Fialkowska is an Officer of the Order of Canada and holds honorary doctorates from Acadia University, Queen's University and Wilfrid Laurier University. She is the recipient of the 2012 Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement in Classical Music, and, in 2013, received the coveted Instrumentalist of the Year award from BBC Music Magazine for her recording Chopin Recital No. 2.

Ingrid Fliter

Ingrid Fliter sprang to international attention when she was awarded the 2006 Gilmore Artist Award, one of only a handful of pianists to have received this honor. The Gilmore Artist Award is presented to an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, possesses profound musicianship and charisma and who sustains a career as a major international concert artist. Born in Buenos Aires, Fliter began her piano studies in Argentina with Elizabeth Westerkamp. In 1992 she moved to Europe where she continued studies at the Freiburg Musikhochschüle with Vitaly Margulis, then in Rome with Carlo Bruno and Franco Scala, and Boris Petrushansky at the Academy 'Incontri col Maestro' in Imola. She was a Laureate of the Ferruccio Busoni Competition in Italy and was awarded the silver medal at the 2000 Frédéric Chopin Competition in Warsaw. She was also selected as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist from 2007 to 2009, working with several of the BBC orchestras under the auspices of this program. Today Fliter divides her time between Europe and North America, where she performs with prominent orchestras and on the stages of the most prestigious concert halls. She has established a reputation as one of the pre-eminent interpreters of Chopin; her two all-Chopin discs on EMI Classics are a testament to this: "Ingrid Fliter sets a new benchmark for the complete waltzes. From beginning to end, this is among the finest Chopin recordings of recent years" (Gramophone).

Jeremy Geffen

Jeremy Geffen is Director of Artistic Planning for Carnegie Hall. A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Geffen was raised in California and studied viola at the University of Southern California. Prior to his role at Carnegie Hall, he served in the chief artistic planning roles for the New York Philharmonic and St. Louis Symphony, as well as at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Geffen works with Carnegie Hall's planning team to develop compelling concerts, thematic and festival programming, and the overall artistic arch of each season. He is closely involved in many aspects of The Academy/Ensemble ACJW including programming and professional development, and has been involved in substantial commissioning projects that have resulted in three Pulitzer Prize-winning and several Grammy Award-winning new works, chief among them John Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls. In addition, Geffen's work with conductor David Robertson brought the St. Louis Symphony accolades for adventurous programming, including the ASCAP Morton Gould Award for Innovative Programming for the 2005-2006 season from the American Symphony Orchestra League.

Charles Hamlen

Charles Hamlen is one of the most respected professionals in the world of arts management. Together with business partner Edna Landau, he founded Hamlen/Landau Management in 1979. Five years later, the company was acquired by the International Management Group, becoming IMG Artists, where he looked after the careers of artists including violinists Joshua Bell, Leila Josefowicz and Itzhak Perlman; the Emerson String Quartet; and pianists Stephen Hough, Evgeny Kissin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and André Watts. In 1993, Hamlen left IMG Artists to found Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS. After 16 years at the helm of Classical Action, he returned to IMG Artists where he served as chairman until 2012. He is currently Vice President for Artists and Programs at New York's Orchestra of St Luke's. Hamlen's numerous honors include the 1998 Jerry Willis Award from the Western Arts Alliance, the 2000 Eos Orchestra's Michael Palm Award, the International Society for the Performing Arts' 2004 'Angel Award' and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He was named a 'Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' by the French government in 2004. Charles Hamlen is the Honorary Chairman of the Honens juries.

Pedja Muzijevic

Hailed by critics as a "thinking" musician with engaging stage presence and a gratifying combination of virtuosity and eloquence, pianist Pedja Muzijevic has defined his 35-year career with creative programming, unusual combinations of new and old music, and lasting collaborations with other artists and ensembles. The Financial Times (London) eloquently sums him up as "a virtuoso with formidable fingers and a musician with fiercely original ideas about the music he plays." Muzijevic's symphonic engagements include performances with the Atlanta Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica in Montevideo, Residentie Orkest in The Hague, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Shinsei Nihon Orchestra in Tokyo and the Zagreb Philharmonic. He has played solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall in New York, Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Michigan, Casals Hall and Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile, Da Camera of Houston, The Frick Collection in New York, National Gallery in Washington D.C., Lincoln Center's What Makes It Great Series in New York, for Arizona Friends of Chamber Music in Tucson, Lane Series at University of Vermont, the Aldeburgh Festival (United Kingdom) and many others. Muzijevic studied at the Academy of Music in Zagreb, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and at The Juilliard School in New York. Teachers who have had the greatest influence on his artistic development include pianists Joseph Kalichstein and Vladimir Krpan, violinist Robert Mann, and harpsichordist Albert Fuller. He is the director of music programming at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York.

Costa Pilavachi

Costa Pilavachi, former international head of Decca, Philips Classics, and EMI Classics, returned to Universal Music Group as its Senior Vice President of Classical Artists and Repertoire in June 2010. In this capacity he oversees the artistic direction of the Decca and Deutsche Grammophon labels. In 1999, Pilavachi was a key player in the merger of the Philips and Decca labels under the Universal umbrella, remaining with the label until 2006 when he joined EMI for three years. In the intervening period he was an artistic advisor to Seiji Ozawa's Saito Kinen Festival in Japan. Pilavachi began his career in 1976 as Director of Sales for the Toronto-based David Haber Artist Management. He has held positions as Director of the Music Department at Canada's National Arts Centre, Director of Music of Toronto Arts Productions, and Artistic Administrator of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival.

Alexandre Tharaud

Following an exceptional 'Domaine Privé' project at the Cité de la Musique (Paris), the release of a documentary film Le Temps Dérobé by Raphaëlle Aellig-Régnie and an autobiographical book, Piano Intime, French pianist Alexandre Tharaud's latest album, Autograph, celebrates ten years of a rich and eclectic discography. Previous discs for Erato include an homage to Parisian Cabaret of the early 20th century, Le Boeuf sur le Toit, and two acclaimed Baroque recordings, one a selection of Scarlatti sonatas and the other Bach's keyboard concerti with Quebec-based chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy. Prior to this, Tharaud made a series of award winning recordings for Harmonia Mundi.

In recent seasons, he has performed at some of the world's leading concert halls including the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Opéra de Versailles and Cité de la Musique in Paris, Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, Bern Casino, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Seoul Arts Center and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Festival appearances include Aix-en-Provence, La Roque d'Anthéron, Edinburgh International, BBC Proms, Gergiev, Schleswig-Holstein, Rheingau, Ludwigsburg, Ruhr Piano Festival, Rimini, Domaine Forget, Lanaudière and the December Nights in Moscow. He has also appeared with leading orchestras including Orchestre National de France, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, as well as the Bavarian, Toronto, Singapore, Taiwan, Sao Paulo and Hamburg symphony orchestras.

COLLABORATING ARTISTS:

Semifinals: Recital Round

Isabel Bayrakdarian

Isabel Bayrakdarian burst onto the international music scene after winning first prize in the 2000 Operalia Competition founded by Plácido Domingo. She is admired as much for her stunning stage presence as for her exceptional musicality, and she has followed a career path completely her own. Highlights of recent operatic seasons include the role of Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice with the Canadian Opera Company, the title role in The Cunning Little Vixen at the Saito Kinen Festival and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, both times with conductor Seiji Ozawa, and the role of Blanche in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Sir Andrew Davis. Bayrakdarian has performed under the auspices of the world's most prestigious concert series and orchestras, including Carnegie and Wigmore Halls, San Francisco Performances, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Symphonies of Chicago, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto. In recital, she often performs with her husband, pianist Serouj Kradjian. Her versatility is also reflected in being the featured vocalist on the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack of the blockbuster film The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers, and on the soundtrack of Atom Egoyan's Ararat; a trance music collaboration with electronica band Delerium, which garnered yet another Grammy nomination, the BBC-produced short film HOLOCAUST -- A Music Memorial Film from Auschwitz, which generated close to a million views on YouTube, and her Gemini-nominated film Long Journey Home documenting her first visit to her ancestral homeland, Armenia. Born in Lebanon of proud Armenian heritage, and now a citizen of Canada, Bayrakdarian moved with her family to Toronto as a teenager. She holds an honors degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

James Campbell

James Campbell has followed his muse through five television specials, more than 40 recordings, over 30 works commissioned, a Juno Award (Stolen Gems), a Roy Thomson Hall Award, Canada's Artist of the Year, the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and Canada's highest honor, the Order of Canada. Called by the Toronto Star "Canada's pre-eminent clarinetist and wind soloist," Campbell has performed solo and chamber music concerts in 30 countries in many of the world's great concert halls: London's Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, Paris' Théâtre Champs-Elysées, Washington's Kennedy Center and Symphony Hall, Boston. He has been soloist with over 60 orchestras, including the Boston Pops, the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Russian Philharmonic, and the Montreal Symphony and has performed Copland's Clarinet Concerto four times with Aaron Copland conducting. He has appeared with over 30 string quartets, including the Amadeus (when he replaced an ailing Benny Goodman on a tour of California), Guarneri, Vermeer, New Zealand, Fine Arts, Allegri and St. Lawrence Quartets. Since 1985, James Campbell has been Artistic Director of Canada's Festival of the Sound, for which he has programmed over 1,300 concerts. Under his direction, Festival of the Sound has traveled to England, Japan and the Netherlands, and it has been the subject of documentaries by BBC Television, CBC Television and TV Ontario. Campbell has been Professor of Music at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, since 1988. James Campbell plays Conn-Selmer clarinets and uses Vandoren and Légère reeds.

Hsin-Yun Huang

Violist Hsin-Yun Huang was the gold medalist at the 1988 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, the top prizewinner at the 1993 ARD Competition in Munich, and received Japan's prestigious Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award. She has appeared as a soloist with the Berlin Radio Symphony, the City of London Sinfonia, the Russian State Symphony, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Zagreb Soloists, the Bavarian Symphony Orchestra, ICE, the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony of Taiwan. Recent highlights include concerto appearances in New York's Central Park and Alice Tully Hall; collaborations with the Guarneri, Juilliard, Brentano, Orion, and St. Lawrence string quartets; the premiere of a new chamber concerto by Steven Mackey for viola with chamber ensemble at the Aspen Festival; and a solo album, ViolaViola, that was released in fall 2012 by Bridge Records. Her upcoming highlights include a Hindemith concertos project with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan as well as the first-ever solo viola recital in the National Concert Hall in Beijing. In 2012, Huang was appointed the artistic director of the Sejong International Music Festival. She is an Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and a faculty member at the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School.

Finals: Concerto Round

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) was formed in 1955 through the amalgamation of the Calgary Symphony and the Alberta Philharmonic. Today the CPO is one of Canada's finest and most versatile orchestras presenting world-leading artists and a wide range of genres.

Yan Pascal Tortelier

Yan Pascal Tortelier has a distinguished career as a guest with the world's most prestigious orchestras. He began his musical career as a violinist and, at age 14, won first prize for violin at the Paris Conservatoire and made his debut as a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Following general musical studies with Nadia Boulanger, Tortelier studied conducting with Franco Ferrara at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, and from 1974 to 1983 he was Associate Conductor of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. Further positions have included Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Ulster Orchestra (1989 to1992) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (2005 to 2008). He was Principal Conductor of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra from 2009 to 2011, and currently holds the position of Guest Conductor of Honor, in which capacity he returns to the orchestra a number of times each season. Following his outstanding work as Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic between 1992 and 2003, including annual appearances at the BBC Proms and a very successful tour of the US to celebrate the orchestra's 60th anniversary season, he was given the title of Conductor Emeritus and continues to work with the orchestra regularly. He also holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

PUBLIC PERFORMANCES

Quarterfinals: International Audition Round

Fifty Quarterfinalists perform a 40-minute recital for solo piano from the repertory submitted in their applications. Performances are video-recorded under as similar conditions as possible and are open to the public.

New York
March 25 and 26, 2015
Merkin Concert Hall
129 W. 67th Street

London
April 15 and 16, 2015
Guildhall School of Music & Dance
Silk Street, Barbican

Berlin
April 10 and 11, 2015
Konzerthaus
Gendarmenmarkt

Semifinals: Recital Round

Ten pianists perform in the Semifinals. There are two performance sessions daily; each session features one pianist performing a 65-minute solo recital and a second performing a 65-minute collaborative recital.

Calgary
September 3 to 7, 2015
EPCOR CENTRE's Jack Singer Concert Hall
205 Eighth Avenue SE

Finals: Concerto Round

Three pianists each perform a Classical and a post-Classical concerto. The announcement of the Honens Prize Laureate is made following performances on the second evening of Finals performances.

Calgary
September 10 and 11, 2015
EPCOR CENTRE's Jack Singer Concert Hall
205 Eighth Avenue SE

WHAT MAKES HONENS DIFFERENT

Eligibility and Competition Process

Professionally-managed pianists may not take part in the competition

Pianists with professional representation have already made big steps in their careers by securing management and therefore cannot take full advantage of Honens' three-year Artist Development Program. A Honens Laureate may sign with a management company after the first year of this program. He/she would then be managed jointly for the remaining two years.

Since 2012, Honens has limited the number of pianists to take part in the competition, thereby narrowing and intensifying its search

Quarterfinals: International Audition Round

Fifty pianists (formerly 90) will be selected from the applicants to perform in important music cities including Berlin, London, and New York; ten pianists (formerly 21) advance.

Semifinals: Recital Round

Ten pianists perform 65-minute solo recitals and 65-minute chamber music recitals in the Recital Round; three pianists (formerly five in 2012) advance.

Finals: Concerto Round

Three pianists (previously five) perform two concertos (previously one); one Laureate will be named (reduced from three in 2009).

Interviews with arts journalists

Two professional arts journalist interviews are included in the Competition process.

To establish a career in music today, a pianist must have his/her unique and distinctive voice, be a versatile musician and an effective communicator. To this end, Honens includes an interview component in the Competition. A professional arts journalist interviews pianists twice-the first, a ten-minute video-recorded interview during the Quarterfinals; the second, a 15-minute interview conducted with the three finalists. The First and Second Juries evaluate the interviews based on a pianist's ability and willingness to communicate and his or her readiness and suitability for a major career in music. The language of all interviews is English, but proficiency in English will not be a factor in evaluation. However, Honens believes that a willingness to learn English is critical for the development of an international career. These interviews make up 10% of each jury's evaluation.

Pianists may perform any solo repertory for their two solo recitals (40-minute International Audition Round recital and, when they advance, a 65-minute Recital Round recital).

Applicants are advised to consider each performance a concert and to design programs with the same care and on the same principles as for a public recital. While no repertory is required, pianists are asked to include a pivotal work from the piano literature. Juries are instructed to look for intelligent and imaginative programming. Recital Round pianists are encouraged to perform an encore after their solo recitals. While there is no commissioned work for the Competition, pianists are encouraged to include contemporary music in their programs.

Competition length

As in 2012, the 2015 Honens Competition will be shortened to ten days (September 3 to 12, 2015), reduced from 16 days (prior to 2012).

Shortening the duration of the Competition facilitates the recruitment of jurors and collaborating musicians, many of whom are successful touring concert artists. Furthermore, most pianists taking part in competitions are still in school and can be penalized if they take too much time away from classes.

Mentor-in-Residence

The seven pianists who do not advance to the Finals are invited to meet with a highly respected, actively touring pianist who will act as Mentor-in-Residence during the final week of the Competition. The mentor provides a one-hour coaching session to each pianist. He/she also attends the Finals and provides feedback to the three Finalists.

Prizes and awards

Honens Prize Laureate

The Honens Prize Laureate will receive $100,000 CAN and an artistic and career development program valued at a half million dollars -- the largest prize of its kind.

Before 2012, the Artist Development Program was shared by the three top-ranked pianists. By presenting this award to a single Laureate, Honens has intensified its efforts in delivering a transformative experience to a young artist that leads to a meaningful career.

Raeburn Prizes

Two unranked Finalists will each receive a $10,000 CAN Raeburn Prize (cash award named after former President & Artistic Director, Andrew Raeburn).

Semifinalist Prizes

The seven Semifinalist pianists who do not advance to the Finals are each eligible for a $2,500 CAN cash award only if they stay through to the Competition's conclusion and meet with the Mentor-in-Residence and Second Jury for feedback. Honens is committed to providing meaningful learning opportunities for the emerging artists taking part in its Competition.

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