Composers: Alexander Scriabin

Adam Balogh – Cliburn Junior 2015 Preliminary Round Recital

ADAM BALOGH
Hungary  |  Age 17

2015 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival
June 21–28, 2015  I  TCU
Fort Worth, TX, USA

Program:
HAYDN Sonata in B-flat Major, Hob. XVI:41
CHOPIN Etude in C Major, op. 10, no. 1
SCRIABIN Etude in D-flat Major, op. 8, no. 10
LISZT “Tarantella” from Venezia e Napoli

Adam Balogh has performed with the Budapest Festival (2010), Berlin Konzerthaus (2012), and Pannon Philharmonic (2010, 2012) Orchestras, working with such conductors as Iván Fischer and András Vass. He has been featured in recitals in Amsterdam, Basel, Berlin, Budapest, Dortmund, and Philadelphia, and gives both solo and chamber recitals annually in his hometown of Pécs, Hungary. Currently studying with Attila Némethy and Gábor Echkardt at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music’s Preparatory School for Exceptionally Gifted Children, he has participated in master classes and lessons with Dmitri Bashkirov, Zoltán Kocsis, and Jerome Lowenthal, among others. In addition to winning prizes in every major national piano competition in Hungary, he has garnered awards at the PianoTalents (Milan 2013), Jeno Takács (Graz 2010), and “Young Virtuoso” (Zagreb 2008) International Piano Competitions.

Zitong Wang – Cliburn Junior 2015 Preliminary Round Recital

ZITONG WANG
China  |  Age 16

2015 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival
June 21–28, 2015  I  TCU
Fort Worth, TX, USA

Program:
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 7 in D Major, op. 10, no. 3: I. Presto
CHOPIN Etude in G-sharp Minor, op. 25, no. 6
SCRIABIN Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp Major, op. 30

Born in Inner Mongolia of China, Zitong Wang was first introduced to piano at an early age, and made her solo recital debut at age 13 in Beijing’s Zhongshan Music Hall. She moved to Philadelphia from China three years ago to study with Meng-Chieh Liu and Eleanor Sokoloff at The Curtis Institute of Music. She has also taken frequent lessons with Beatrice Long, and master classes with Seymour Lipkin, Gary Graffman, and Ignat Solzhenitsyn. First-prize winner of the Tureck International Bach and Virginia Waring International Concerto Competitions, she most recently won second prize at the 2014 Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition. She has appeared with the Cleveland, Hangzhou Philharmonic, Yakima Symphony, and Waring Festival Orchestras, among others. Also interested in early music, she studies harpsichord as a secondary major at Curtis with Leon Schelhase, and has participated in master class with Trevor Pinnock on antique harpsichords from the Flint Collection.

Jorge Zamora – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Quarterfinal Round Recital

JORGE ZAMORA, 43
Sales director
Mexico City, Mexico
Mexico

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

Jorge Zamora studied piano privately for years before earning his bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications engineering at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies in Monterrey, Mexico. When he was 25, he entered the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied piano performance and audio recording for three years. Mr. Zamora returned to Mexico and embarked on a career in telecommunications. Currently, he is a sales director at Qualcomm International Inc. Mr. Zamora took a 10-year break from the piano prior to the 2011 Cliburn Amateur Competition, in which he was a semifinalist. Last year, he took first prize (2nd category) in the 2015 Piano Bridges Amateur International Piano Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Program:
CHOPIN Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, op. 47
SCRIABIN Etude in C-sharp Minor, op. 42, no. 5
RAVEL “Ondine” from Gaspard de la nuit

Ken Iisaka – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Quarterfinal Round Recital

KEN IISAKA, 47
Software engineer
Foster City, California
Japan/Canada

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

Ken Iisaka, a Cliburn Amateur finalist in 2007 and 2011, says his previous participation was during “the most tumultuous time of my life.” But he views competing as a necessary vehicle for his musical improvement, and for his soul. Born in Tokyo, he immigrated to Canada with his family and took private lessons while studying computer science at the University of Ottawa. In recent years, he has appeared at Fullerton College Piano Ensemble Festival (2014) and at the Newport Music Festival (2015). Most recently, he performed in an ensemble concert in Tokyo with his partner, Yvonne Liu, whom he met at the Amateur Competition in 2011. Currently, he is a lead engineer for a software company whose clients are advertisers and publishers, in Sunnyvale, California. Mr. Iisaka enjoys writing concert reviews, photography, cooking, and wines from Northern California.

Program:
MESSIAEN, “La colombe” from Preludes
SCRIABIN, Sonata No. 5, op. 53
MEDTNER, “Danza rustica” from Vergessene Weisen, op. 38

Yasuo Kurimoto – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Quarterfinal Round Recital

YAUSO KURIMOTO, M.D., 55
Ophthalmologist
Kobe, Japan
Japan

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

Dr. Yasuo Kurimoto says he has wanted to participate in the Cliburn Amateur Competition for 10 years, and his interest in the competition’s namesake goes back further: “Van Cliburn has been my hero since I was a child.” He took private piano lessons, but pursued medicine as a career, receiving his medical degree in 1986, and a Ph.D. in 1995 from Kyoto University. Currently, he is the director of the department of ophthalmology at Kobe City General Hospital. Dr. Kurimoto has found success competing in amateur contests around the world. In 2001, he was a semifinalist in the first Boston International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs; a semifinalist in 2002 at the Paris Concours des Grands Amateurs de Piano; first-prize winner at the 14th Osaka International Music Competition and first-prize winner at the International (Tokyo) Amateur Piano Competition in 2014. An opera buff who also enjoys skiing and wine, he looks forward to meeting piano-lovers from around the world in Fort Worth.

Program:
SCRIABIN, Two Poѐmes, op. 32
CHOPIN, Fantaisie in F Minor, op. 49

Bruce Pfeffer – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Preliminary Round Recital

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

Bruce Pfeffer, 65
Cell biologist
Amherst, New York
United States

Bruce Pfeffer began piano lessons at age 7, and continued to study throughout his schooling at Pomona College in Claremont, California (bachelor’s in biochemistry). He went on to earn a Ph.D. in cell biology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The research scientist studies the field of ophthalmology, currently working at SUNY Buffalo and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs-Western New York Research Service. As an amateur pianist, Dr. Pfeffer brings his scientific process to music: “My commitment is such that, as much as I have achieved ‘high-flow states’ in practicing…I feel obliged to find opportunities to perform these masterpieces.” He looks forward to the challenge and excitement live performance brings, and hopes to express his gratitude through his participation here, “to former teachers whose insights took decades to dawn on me.”

Program:
BACH, Prelude and Fugue in D Major, WTC II, BWV 874
SCRIABIN, Etude in C-sharp Minor, op. 42, no. 5 (“Affannato”)

Sean Sutherland – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Preliminary Round Recital

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

Sean Sutherland, 39
Entrepreneur/lecturer
Montréal, Québec
St. Vincent and The Grenadines/Canada

Born in St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Sean Sutherland serendipitously discovered the piano as a child and was instantly enamored. His opportunities for pursuing his studies were limited on St. Vincent, however, so he resumed his studies upon his arrival at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while earning bachelor’s degree in music, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science; he went on to receive an MBA from McGill University in Montreal. Since graduating, he has founded a niche tutorial service and lectures at McGill University as an adjunct professor of international finance and information systems. Mr. Sutherland is keenly interested in “exploring opportunities for leveraging technology to promote learning” and is passionate about adapting classical music for the steelpan (drum).

Program:
SCRIABIN, Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp Major, op. 30

Shinji Wada – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Preliminary Round Recital

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

Shinji Wada, 40
Human resources director
Foster City, California
Japan

Largely self-taught, Shinji Wada learned how to read music himself and began playing piano in elementary school. By 13, he started private lessons, and he continued them after a move to the New York/New Jersey area. At that time, he met his longtime teacher, Seymour Bernstein, who continues to be a source of much inspiration for Mr. Wada. Back in Japan, he finished his bachelor’s degree (Keio University) in economics, and returned to the United States in 2014. A career loyalist to the Sony Corporation, Mr. Wada is a human resources director for Sony Interactive Entertainment (aka PlayStation) in Foster City, California. He views entering this Competition as a means to add balance to his work-heavy life. A father of two, he enjoys traveling to new places throughout the United States with his family in tow.

Program:
SCRIABIN, Poѐme in F-sharp Major, op. 32, no. 1
RACHMANINOV, Étude-Tableau in D Major, op. 39, no. 9

Alfredo Garcia Jr. – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Preliminary Round Recital

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

Alfredo Garcia Jr., 62
Financial advisor
Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey
Cuba/United States

Born in Cuba, Alfredo Garcia Jr. began studying piano when he was 8, and was preparing to enter the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory at 14 when his family relocated to Madrid, Spain. After studying briefly at the Conservatorio Real de Madrid, he moved to New York City in 1970 to further his musical pursuits at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. But when his father became ill, he was drawn away from the piano and eventually became a financial analyst. Throughout his life—which has included a successful and busy career (he now serves as first vice president and senior international financial advisor for Merrill Lynch/Bank of America), marrying his college sweetheart and raising three daughters, and extensive travel—Mr. Garcia has never given up on his first love, the piano. He diligently practices daily and has continued to take lessons throughout his adult life. He is the winner of the 2014 Cliburn Amateur Piano Video Contest, which was determined by an online vote.

Program:
RACHMANINOV, Moment musical in C Major, op. 16, no. 6
SCRIABIN, Etude in D-sharp Minor, op. 8, no. 12

Matthias Fischer – 2016 Cliburn Amateur Preliminary Round Recital

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

Matthias Fischer, 42
Physician
Würzburg, Germany
Germany

Born in 1973, in Bad Kissingen, Germany, Matthias Fischer received his first piano lessons from his parents at age 5. Throughout his childhood, he won prizes in the German youth competition, Jugend Musiziert, and briefly studied the piano at Munich Musikhochschule with Karl-Hermann Mrongovius from 1993–1994. One year later, he began his career in medicine as a student at the University of Würzburg. He finished his medical thesis in 2000 and pursued an M.D./Ph.D. thesis on mental retardation. Since 2007, he has been an assistant doctor and researcher at the university hospital for psychiatry in Würzburg. Throughout his work in medicine, however, Dr. Fischer continued to hone his piano skills. In 1996, he placed second at the first amateur competition in which he participated, in Utrecht, Netherlands, and he looks forward to this Competition and the possibility of playing with an orchestra.

Program:
RACHMANINOV, Étude-Tableau in E-flat Minor, op. 39, no. 5
SCRIABIN, Etude in D-sharp Minor, op. 8, no. 12

Benjamin T. Rossen – Cliburn Junior 2019 Quarterfinal Round Recital

Benjamin T. Rossen
United States | Age 16

Quarterfinal Round Recital – Sunday, June 2, 2019 – 8:02 p.m. CDT
Caruth Auditorium, SMU  I  Dallas, Texas, USA

Program:
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 7 in D Major, op. 10, no. 3 (I)
SCHUBERT Impromptu in B-flat Major, op. posth. 142, D. 935, no. 3
SCRIABIN Deux Poèmes, op. 32
CHOPIN Polonaise in F-sharp Minor, op. 44

New Yorker Benjamin T. Rossen has won prizes in a number of U.S. competitions, including first-place finishes in contests held by Steinway & Sons, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Music Teachers National Association, and the National YoungArts Foundation. A student of Jeffrey Cohen at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division for five years, he made his recital debut at the school at age 9, and his concerto debut the following year with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta at Carnegie Hall. A junior at William A. Shine Great Neck South High School, Benjamin is founder and president of the Music Creators Society, which connects composers with artists to produce interdisciplinary works; plays piano in the school jazz band and French horn in operas and musicals; and is music editor for the school’s literary magazine.

“In society, music can bring awareness to many different facets of culture, from literature and art to political ideas and mathematical concepts. This medium allows for different communities to discover and acknowledge society’s achievements and challenges.”

Hao-Wei Lin – Cliburn Junior 2019 Preliminary Round Recital

Hao-Wei Lin
Taiwan | Age 14

Preliminary Round Recital – Friday, May 31, 2019 – 4:38 p.m.
Caruth Auditorium, SMU I Dallas, Texas, USA

Program:
COUPERIN Le Tic-Toc-Choc ou Les Maillotins
BACH Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp Minor, BWV 863
SCRIABIN Etude in B Major, op. 8, no. 4
RACHMANINOV Prelude in G Major, op. 32, no. 5
DEBUSSY Pour les huit doigts from Etudes, Book I
LISZT La leggierezza from Three Concert Etudes

Hao-Wei Lin enjoys studying geography in his free time, which fits with one of his favorite results of playing the piano: “Music takes me all over the world to meet new friends.” He gave his first recital at the age of 10, and has performed in Taiwan, Canada, China, the United States, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. His international young artist competition achievements include first-place finishes at Bradshaw & Buono in New York and Grotrian-Steinweg in Germany, as well as prizes at Cleveland, Aarhus, Ettlingen, and Fryderyk Chopin (Poland). He currently attends Taipei Municipal Zhongzheng Junior High School and studies piano with Chun-Chieh Yen.

“Music is like air to me. It can calm my mind and allows me to mature. I love the French composer Ravel, whose music reflects the real world we live in—his work has vibrant emotions and vivid colors, full of imagination.”

Shunta Morimoto – Cliburn Junior 2019 Preliminary Round Recital

Shunta Morimoto
Japan | Age 14

Preliminary Round Recital – Friday, May 31, 2019 – 3:14 p.m.

Program:
BACH Prelude and Fugue in E Major, BWV 854
CHOPIN Etude in C-sharp Minor, op. 10, no. 4
SCRIABIN Etude in A-flat Major, op. 42, no. 3
SCRIABIN Waltz in A-flat Major, op. 38
SCHUBERT-LISZT Der Erlkönig, S. 558, no. 4

Shunta Morimoto has won first in his category three times in the Piano Teachers’ National Association of Japan Piano Competition, as well as other competitions in his home country, which has led to multiple performances in Tokyo, Yokohama, and his home town of Kyoto. He also placed first in the 2018 Aloha International Piano Competition and subsequently gave concerts in Hawaii, including with the Hawaii Youth Symphony. He says that experience helped him believe in the “magical power of music,” because he could use it to communicate easily where a language barrier may have prohibited him. A student at Momoyama Junior High School, Shunta currently studies with Shohei Sekimoto.

“Music has the power to bring people together, no matter race, gender, sex, or religion, and it creates emotions unable to be felt in everyday life. It is important to me because it gives my life a new flavor, a new color, and a new spectrum.”

Nikolay Khozyainov- Cliburn 2013 Preliminary Recital I

NIKOLAY KHOZYAINOV
Russia | Age 20

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Recital I
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
HAYDN Sonata in D Major, Hob. XVI:33
CHOPIN Étude in C Major, op. 10, no. 1
LISZT Transcendental Étude No. 5: Feux follets
SCRIABIN Étude in C-sharp Minor, op. 42, no. 5
RAVEL Gaspard de la nuit

Nikolay Khozyainov made his debut at age seven in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. He has since garnered numerous prizes, including top prizes at the Dublin and Sydney International Piano Competitions and the Moscow International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition for Young Pianists. Additionally, he was the youngest finalist competing in the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2010. He has appeared with the Sydney Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestras, among others. Mr. Khozyainov released his first CD, featuring works by Chopin and Liszt, on the Accord label in 2010. He followed this in 2012 with an all-Chopin disc released by the Chopin Institute in Warsaw and another recording on the JVC Victor label in Japan. He is currently enrolled at the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

Tomoki Sakata- Cliburn 2013 Preliminary Recital I

TOMOKI SAKATA
Japan | Age 19

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Recital I
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 22 in F Major, op. 54
LISZT Apres une lecture de Dante (Fantasia quasi sonata) La campanella (from Etudes d’execution transcendantes d’apres Paganini)
SCRIABIN Sonata No. 5, op. 53

Born in Nagoya, Tomoki Sakata received his first piano lesson at the age of five. A prizewinner at various competitions throughout Asia and Europe, Mr. Sakata has appeared in concert in Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama, as well as in Geneva, Lugano, Paris, Prague, Utrecht, Vienna, and in Moscow for the twelfth International Festival “Musical Kremlin.” He has also performed as soloist with the Hamamatsu Symphony, Lubrin Philharmonic, and Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestras. Mr. Sakata currently studies at both the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and at the International Piano Academy Lake Como.

Nikita Abrosimov- Cliburn 2013 Semifinal Recital

NIKITA ABROSIMOV
Russia | Age 24

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Semifinal Round  Recital
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
RACHMANINOV Variations on a Theme of Corelli, op. 42
THEOFANIDIS Birichino
SCRIABIN Vers la flamme, op. 72
STRAVINSKY Trois mouvements de Petrouchka

Nikita Abrosimov began studying piano at the age of six and made his recital debut when he was fourteen. He has since made appearances at La Scala in Milan, Alice Tully Hall in New York, Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, and in venues throughout France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has recently performed with the Nizhny Novgorod Symphony, Kostroma Symphony, and Stanford Symphony Orchestras, as well as with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev in St. Petersburg’s Stars of the White Nights Festival. Mr. Abrosimov earned degrees at the Balakirev Music College and at Indiana University South Bend. He currently lives in London, where he studies at the Royal College of Music.

Alexey Chernov- Cliburn 2013 Semifinal Recital

ALEXEY CHERNOV
Russia | Age 30

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Semifinal Round Recital
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
THEOFANIDIS Birichino
BARTOK Étude, op. 18, no. 3
SCRIABIN Sonata No. 5, op. 53
PURCELL Suite in C Major, Z. 666
SCHUMANN Symphonic Études, op. 13

Born in Moscow to a family of musicians, Alexey Chernov began studying music at the age of four. A graduate of the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Royal College of Music in London, he has won prizes at more than twenty international piano competitions, including first prize at the 2012 International Competition for Piano and Orchestra in Cantù, Italy; second prize at the 2011 Cleveland International Piano Competition; and fifth prize at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition, also in 2011. Since his 2005 debut in Moscow’s Rachmaninov Hall, Mr. Chernov has performed under the batons of Mikhail Pletnev, Enrique Bátiz, Alexander Sladkovsky, and Dmitry Orlov, among others. He maintains a busy concert schedule, performing solo recitals and with orchestras throughout Russia and Europe.

Beatrice Rana- Cliburn 2013 Semifinal Recital

BEATRICE RANA
2013 Silver Medalist
Italy | Age 20

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Semifinal Recital
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

SCRIABIN Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp Minor, op. 19 (“Sonata-Fantasy”)
THEOFANIDIS Birichino
CHOPIN Twenty-four Preludes, op. 28

Born into a family of musicians, Beatrice Rana began musical studies at the age of four and made her concerto debut when she was nine. She has been invited to perform at the Busoni, La Folle Journée, La Roque d’Antherón, Lanaudière, and Radio-France Festivals, and as soloist with the Aarhus Symfoniorkester, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Kuala Lumpur Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. First prize winner of the 2011 Montreal International Musical Competition, Ms. Rana also took first prize at the Muzio Clementi and Bang & Olufsen Piano Competitions. She released her first CD in 2012 of works by Scriabin and Chopin on ATMA Classique. She currently studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, having previously graduated from the Nino Rota Conservatory of Music.

Sean Chen- Cliburn 2013 Preliminary Recital I

SEAN CHEN
2013 Bronze Medalist
United States | Age 24

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Recital I
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
BACH French Suite No. 5 in G Major, BWV 816
BARTOK Three Etudes, op. 18
CHOPIN Three Mazurkas, op. 59
SCRIABIN Sonata No. 5, op. 53

Second-prize winner at the 2011 Seoul International Music Competition and Christel DeHaan Classical Fellow of the American Pianists Association, Sean Chen has performed with several orchestras, including the Indianapolis Chamber, Juilliard, New West Symphony, and Suwon Philharmonic. He has presented solo recitals in Albuquerque, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Taipei, among other cities. Additional awards include top prize at the 2010 Gina Bachauer Piano Competition at Juilliard, the 2010 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship, Best Performance of an American Work at the 2009 Cleveland International Piano Competition, Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Award, and an NFAA ARTS week award. Born in Florida, Mr. Chen grew up in Oak Park, California, and now resides in New Haven, Connecticut, where he is pursuing his artist diploma at the Yale School of Music. When not at the piano, he enjoys tinkering with computers and composing.

Yury Favorin – Cliburn 2017 Quarterfinal Recital

YURY FAVORIN
Russia | Age 30

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Quarterfinal Round Recital – Monday, May 29, 2017 – 7:30 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

BACH-BUSONI Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639
RACHMANINOFF Variations on a Theme by Corelli, op. 42
SCRIABIN Sonata No. 10, op. 70
LISZT Scherzo and March

Moscow native Yury Favorin started his music instruction at age 5, and pursued piano, clarinet, and composition at the Gnessins Moscow Secondary Special School. He continued his education at the Moscow Conservatory and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In 2016, he was invited to be on the faculty of the Moscow Conservatory. Mr. Favorin has won prizes at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and the Olivier Messiaen International Piano Competition in Paris. He has played with conductors including Pierre Boulez and Marin Alsop, and given recitals in Russia, the United States, France, Germany, Austria, Norway, Hungary, Italy,  Sweden, Poland,  Japan, and more. He is a regular participant in music festivals such as Crazy Days in Nantes, France, and in Japan; and La Rocque-d’Anthéron in France. Mr. Favorin enjoys premiering works by contemporary composers. His many recordings include Liszt and 20th-century Russian composers, but also new music and improvisations. He has been part of several groups devoted to freely improvised music, including his own “ERROR 404”.

Tony Yike Yang – Cliburn 2017 Quarterfinal Recital

TONY YIKE YANG
Canada | Age 18

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Quarterfinal Round Recital – Tuesday, May 30, 2017 – 3:20 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

SCRIABIN Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp Minor, op. 19
LISZT Sonata in B Minor

Tony Yike Yang is enrolled at Harvard University and the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studies with Wha Kyung Byun. He previously studied in the Pre-College Division at The Juilliard School and at the Taylor Academy of the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. Mr. Yang won fifth prize at the 2015 International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition as well as the Ewa & Włodzimierz Kamirski Award for the Youngest Finalist, and earned a Jury Discretionary Award at the First Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition in 2015. He also has won top prizes at Thomas & Evon Cooper, Hilton Head, Bösendorfer and Yamaha USASU International Junior, and Gina Bachauer International Junior piano competitions. He has appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, Montreal’s Orchestre Metropolitain, and Toronto Sinfonietta. When he’s not playing piano, Mr. Yang loves badminton, ping-pong, video games, swimming, movies, and spicy food.

Dasol Kim – Cliburn 2017 Quarterfinal Recital

DASOL KIM
South Korea | Age 28

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Quarterfinal Round Recital – Monday, May 29, 2017 – 2:30 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

SCRIABIN Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp Major, op. 30
CHOPIN 24 Preludes, op. 28

Dasol Kim has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and many more, and with notable conductors including Alan Gilbert, Marin Alsop, and David Zinman. He was a first-prize winner of the 2015 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, 2010 Young Concert Artists European Auditions, and 2011 Epinal International Piano Competition. Mr. Kim has appeared at festivals including La Roque-d’Anthéron in France, the Kissinger Sommer in Germany, and the PyeongChang Music Festival in Korea. His chamber-music collaborators include cellists Gautier Capuçon and Myung-wha Chung, violinist Svetlin Roussev, and violist Maxim Rysanov, among others. His debut CD, Dasol Kim Plays Schumann, was released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2015. He currently studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Arie Vardi. Away from the piano, Mr. Kim loves literature, movies, and running, as well as restaurants and wine.

Luigi Carroccia – Cliburn 2017 Preliminary Recital

LUIGI CARROCCIA
Italy | Age 25

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Round Recital – Saturday, May 27, 2017 – 10:00 a.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

GLUCK-SGAMBATI “Mélodie” from Orfeo ed Euridice
CHOPIN Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat Major, op. 61
SCRIABIN Sonata No. 3 in F-sharp Minor, op. 23
HAMELIN Toccata on “L’homme armé”

Luigi Carroccia was born into a musical family, and his first piano teachers were his father and grandfather. He continued studies at the Claudio Monteverdi Conservatory in Bolzano, where he earned undergraduate and master’s degrees with honors. He has won prizes in many competitions, such as the Maria Herrero International Competition in Granada and the Premio Abbado, organized by the Italian Ministry of Culture in memory of Claudio Abbado.  He also was a finalist at the 2015 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition and a semifinalist at the 2015 International Fryderyk Chopin Competition. Mr. Carroccia has given numerous recitals in Naples, Rome, and elsewhere in Italy, as well as in Poland, the United States, Great Britain, Bulgaria, and Germany. Besides music, his passions include cooking.

Caterina Grewe – Cliburn 2017 Preliminary Recital

CATERINA GREWE
Germany | Age 29

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Round Recital – Friday, May 26, 2017 – 11:55 a.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

HAYDN Sonata in D Major, Hob. XVI:33
HAMELIN Toccata on “L’homme armé”
SCRIABIN Sonata No. 3 in F-sharp Minor, op. 23
LISZT Trübe Wolken (Nuages gris)
LISZT Transcendental Etude No. 8 “Wilde Jagd”

Born in Tokyo, German-Japanese pianist Caterina Grewe is a Steinway Artist who has given recitals at Royal Albert Hall, at Steinway Halls in London and Hamburg, and at venues in Dublin, Barcelona, and Moscow. Her recitals have been broadcast by the BBC, NDR in Hamburg, and Radio France in Paris. She has made concerto appearances with the Classic Philharmonic Orchestra Hamburg, Oldenburg State Orchestra, Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya (Barcelona), and RTE National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland). She was a prize winner at the 2015 Maria Canals International Piano Competition and the 2015 Dublin International Piano Competition. Ms. Grewe was listed as “an artist to watch” by Gramophone after her debut CD (2016), which features Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze and his Sonata No. 3. Ms. Grewe studied at Chetham’s School of Music and the Royal College of Music, where she was awarded the HRH Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Rose Bowl by the Prince of Wales for her achievements. She is completing her Konzertexamen under the tutelage of Alfredo Perl at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold. Ms. Grewe enjoys travel and all forms of art, from painting to fashion, and is a big tennis fan.

Su Yeon Kim – Cliburn 2017 Preliminary Recital

SU YEON KIM
South Korea | Age 23

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Round Recital – Thursday, May 25, 2017 – 4:25 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

SCRIABIN Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp Minor, op. 19
HAMELIN Toccata on “L’homme armé”
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 21 in C Major, op. 53 (“Waldstein”)
KREISLER-RACHMANINOFF Liebesfreud

Su Yeon Kim began playing piano at age 5 and studied at the Korean Institute for the Gifted in Arts at Korea National University of Arts. Since 2013, she has continued her studies with Pavel Gililov at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg. Ms. Kim was a semifinalist at the 17th Chopin International Piano Competition in 2015 and at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2016. She also won first prize at the 2014 Johann Nepomuk Hummel International Piano Competition. In 2015, Ms. Kim performed a recital at Hercules Hall in Munich, Germany. She has appeared on KBS Classic FM (the Korean Broadcasting System) and performed extensively in Korea, Japan, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Italy, and Slovakia, including on a concert series sponsored by Kawai Piano.

Han Chen – Cliburn 2017 Semifinal Recital

HAN CHEN
Taiwan| Age 25

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Semifinal Round Recital – Sunday, June 4, 2017 – 2:30 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

BACH-BUSONI Chaconne in D Minor, BWV 1004
SCRIABIN Fantasie in B Minor, op. 28
JANÁČEK Piano Sonata 1 .X. 1905 (“From the Street”)
SCHUBERT Fantasie in C Major, D. 760, op. 15 (“Der Wanderer”)

Han Chen, a native of Taichung, Taiwan, studied with Yoheved Kaplinsky at The Juilliard School, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, in part on a Van Cliburn Alumni Scholarship. He continues his studies at the New England Conservatory with Wha Kyung Byun. As first-prize winner of the Sixth China International Piano Competition, Mr. Chen released his debut CD, of Liszt opera transcriptions, on Naxos Records. He has performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (under Vladimir Ashkenazy), Aspen Music Festival Brass Ensemble, China Symphony Orchestra, Macao Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, and given recitals in New York, Taiwan, and China. A modern-music enthusiast, Mr. Chen collaborated closely with Juilliard’s new-music ensemble, AXIOM (as in John Cage’s Concerto for Prepared Piano), and is on the roster of the New York-based Ensemble Échappé. His program of all New York-based composers at the new-music venue Spectrum was aTime Out New York critic’s pick. Mr. Chen also is an avid composer whose works have been performed in Taiwan, New York, Aspen, and beyond.

Kenny Broberg – Cliburn 2017 Quarterfinal Recital

KENNY BROBERG
2017 CLIBURN SILVER MEDALIST
United States | Age 23

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Quarterfinal Round Recital – Tuesday, May 30, 2017 – 10:50 a.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
SCRIABIN Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp Major, op. 30
CHOPIN Three Mazurkas, op. 59
CHOPIN Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, op. 52
LISZT Après une lecture de Dante (Fantasia quasi sonata)

A native of Minneapolis, Kenneth Broberg studied piano from age 6 through high school under Dr. Joseph Zins. He continued his studies with Nancy Weems at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree. He is now a graduate student working with 2001 Cliburn gold medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. Mr. Broberg has won first prizes at the Hastings and Dallas international piano competitions, in addition to medals at the Sydney, Seattle, New Orleans, and Wideman (Shreveport) competitions. Several of his performances at last year’s Sydney International Piano Competition were released on CD on the Universal Music label. He has performed as soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Chamber Symphony, and the Louisiana Philharmonic, among others. Mr. Broberg has had solo, chamber, and concerto performances broadcast on NPR and ABC (Australia) radio. His passions include hockey, baseball, books, and movies.