Saffet Bayka – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Quarterfinal Round Recital

SAFFET BAYKA, 57
Electrical engineer
Ankara, Turkey
Turkey

2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Quarterfinal Round – Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Van Cliburn Recital Hall
Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Saffet Bayka started playing the piano at 11, studying with Tulga Cetiz, a renowned teacher at Ankara State Conservatory. After appearing in school recitals, he performed with the Baskent Chamber Orchestra and the Presidential Symphony Orchestra in his 20s. Mr. Bayka graduated with honors from a piano program for amateurs at Hacettepe University-Ankara State Conservatory; today, he continues his musical pursuits, giving community concerts as part of a duo with clarinetist Ekrem Oztan. Mr. Bayka, an electrical engineer, cites performing with a professional orchestra as a personal goal. An amateur sailor in the summer and skier during the winter, Mr. Bayka says competing in Fort Worth will become an “honorable memory” that he looks forward to sharing with his fellow engineers upon his return to Ankara.

Program:
CHOPIN, Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, op. 23
GINASTERA, “Danza de la moza donosa” and “Danza del gaucho marrero” from Danzas Argentinas, op. 2

Jasmin Tiodang – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Preliminary Round Recital

2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Preliminary Round
Van Cliburn Recital Hall

Jasmin Tiodang, 44
Stay-at-home mother
Carolina, Puerto Rico
Indonesia

Born in Indonesia, Jasmin Tiodang began private piano lessons at age 4, studied with Iravati M. Sudiarso in Indonesia, and continued to play until she moved to the United States to pursue her undergraduate studies. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Winthrop University (South Carolina), where she studied with Dr. Eugene Barban, and a master’s in music and an MBA from the University of Louisville. After several years teaching children at a local music academy and serving as music director at a Catholic church in Louisville, she relocated to Puerto Rico in 2003 with her husband. Now, she is focused on caring for her daughter full time, and she recognizes the importance of being a strong role model: “I need to set an example for my daughter,” she says. Competing at the Cliburn Amateur is Ms. Tiodang’s way of paying tribute to the special people who have encouraged her: her late parents as well as her husband, daughter, teachers, and mentors.

Program:
GINASTERA, Suite de Danzas Criollas, op. 15

Summer Stone – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Preliminary Round Recital

2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Preliminary Round
Van Cliburn Recital Hall

Summer Stone, 39
Client relations
Woodland Hills, California
United States

Born in Dallas, Summer Stone started playing at the age of 4, and says she practiced relentlessly for decades, receiving a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the University of Kansas. Her career took a tangential turn; she worked with composers and publishers at ASCAP in New York and negotiated music licenses for films at 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios in California. After years away from the piano—and watching They Came to Play, the 2007 Cliburn Amateur Competition documentary—she realized she wanted to play again too. Aside from the time she now devotes to practicing, Ms. Stone also enjoys being with her husband, 8-year-old son, and 5-year-old daughter. An “insane-but-charming” Rhodesian Ridgeback named Basil completes the familial quintet.

Program:
GINASTERA Suite de Danzas Criollas, op. 15

Madoka Fukami – Cliburn 2017 Preliminary Recital

MADOKA FUKAMI
Japan | Age 28

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Round Recital – Thursday, May 25, 2017 – 3:20 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

GINASTERA Sonata No. 1, op. 22
BEETHOVEN Rondo in G Major, op. 51, no. 2
HAMELIN Toccata on “L’homme armé”
RAVEL “Ondine” from Gaspard de la nuit
CHOPIN Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat Major, op. 61

Madoka Fukami studied at the Tokyo National University of the Arts, then earned two master’s degrees at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris, and a concert artist diploma at the Ecole normale de musique de Paris. She has been artist in residence at Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium under the direction of Maria João Pires. Ms. Fukami has won prizes at more than 10 international competitions and has performed with the NHK Orchestra, Porto National Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, and the Chamber Orchestra of Paris. Her recent recital and concerto appearances include the Théâtre des Champs Élysées in Paris and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, among others. She has a particular passion for French music. She won the Maurice Ravel Foundation prize for her Ravel performances at the Long-Thibaud-Crespin competition, and her recital of Debussy’s complete etudes was broadcast by Radio France’s France Musique. She loves cooking, fitness, musical theater, and visiting art galleries.