Composers: Ferruccio Busoni

Robert Seppy – 2016 Cliburn Amateur Preliminary Round Recital

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

Robert Seppy, 58
Healthcare executive
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States

Robert Seppy began piano lessons at age 9 and went on to study at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and The Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts. Since 1993, he has worked at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a charge entry manager. In 2011, Mr. Seppy placed first in the Music Minus One YouTube Video Contest. He looks to the Cliburn Amateur Competition as an opportunity to improve his playing, since it provides motivation to practice. He is also looking forward to meeting other like-minded competitors at this year’s event. Besides playing the piano, Mr. Seppy enjoys spending time with his wife and family. He also likes to attend concerts and values the increasingly important role social media plays in performing arts.

Program:
BACH-BUSONI, Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639
BEETHOVEN, Sonata No. 18 in E-flat Major, op. 31, no. 3: II. Scherzo: Allegretto vivace

Scipione Sangiovanni- Cliburn 2013 Preliminary Recital I

SCIPIONE SANGIOVANNI
Italy | Age 25

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

Program:
BACH Partita No. 6 in E Minor, BWV 830
BUSONI Indianisches Tagebuch
BACH-BUSONI Komm, Gott, Schöpfer!
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland
Nun freut euch, lieben Christen

Scipione Sangiovanni is a graduate of Italy’s Conservatory “Tito Schipa” of Lecce and the Mendelssohn Piano Academy of Lecce. He has performed throughout Italy, as well as in Austria, China, Croatia, France, Georgia, Portugal, Spain, and the United States. Mr. Sangiovanni has also been invited to perform as guest soloist with the Bacau Orchestra in Romania, the Orchestra of the Croatian Radio-Television, and the Orchestra Sinfonietta Italiana in Rome. Competition credits include top prizes at the Jaén, Maria Canals, Porto, and Tbilisi International Piano Competitions.

Ilya Shmukler – Cliburn 2017 Quarterfinal Recital

ILYA SHMUKLER
Russia | Age 22

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Quarterfinal Round Recital – Monday, May 29, 2017 – 11:55 a.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

BACH-BUSONI Chaconne in D Minor, BWV 1004
RAVEL Pavane pour une infante défunte
STRAVINSKY Trois mouvements de Petrouchka

Moscow native Ilya Shmukler studies piano with Elena Kuznetsova at the Moscow Conservatory. He has frequently performed in the leading concert halls of Russia, including in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, and Kazan, as well as in Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, and Kazakhstan. Mr. Shmukler has won awards at a number of piano competitions, including grand prizes of the 2009 Musica Classica and the 2012 Scriabin-Rachmaninoff competitions in Russia, and second prize in the 2012 International Rachmaninov Music Competition. He has played with several orchestras, most notably the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra. When not playing piano, he enjoys cinema, literature, art, swimming, and table tennis.

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.

Daniel Hsu – Cliburn 2017 Quarterfinal Recital

DANIEL HSU
2017 CLIBURN BRONZE MEDALIST
United States | Age 19

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Quarterfinal Round Recital – Monday, May 29, 2017 – 5:15 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
BACH-BUSONI Chaconne in D Minor, BWV 1004
MUSSORGSKY Pictures at an Exhibition

A native of the San Francisco Bay area, Daniel Hsu began piano studies with Larisa Kagan at 6. He was accepted at age 10 to the Curtis Institute of Music, where he is the Richard A. Doran Fellow and studies with Gary Graffman and Eleanor Sokoloff. In 2016, Mr. Hsu was named a Gilmore Young Artist and won the bronze medal at the 9th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition. As first-prize winner of the 2015 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, Mr. Hsu made his Carnegie Hall debut in April 2017. He made his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in June 2016, and concerto appearances this season include concerts with the Grand Rapids Symphony, New Haven Symphony, and Symphonia Boca Raton. His notable recitals include appearances at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts; Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Concert Series; and Merkin Concert Hall’s Tuesday matinee series in New York. Mr. Hsu also is a film buff and enjoys computer programming. He contributed to the creation of the Workflow productivity app, which won a 2015 Apple Design Award and has improved the experience of mobile devices for visually impaired users.