Open Piano Competition - London 2012 - Results
Jury Chairperson: Dr. Leslie Howard
Jury Members: Ashley Fripp, Zina Zubova, Clara Rodriguez, Yuki Negishi
Artistic Directors: Marianna Prjevalskaya, Tamara Lorenzo Gabeiras and Coady Green
Artistic Directors: Marianna Prjevalskaya, Tamara Lorenzo Gabeiras and Coady Green
2012 RESULTS
First Place: Valentin Bogolubov
Second Place: Viviana Lasaracina
Third Place: Dominic Smith
Second Place: Viviana Lasaracina
Third Place: Dominic Smith
2012 SPECIAL PRIZES
Best performance of a Romantic work - Valentin Bogolubov
Best performance of a Classical work - Viviana Lasaracina
Best performance of a Contemporary work - Valentin Bogolubov
Spirit of the Open Piano Competition - Vivian Fan
Best performance of a Classical work - Viviana Lasaracina
Best performance of a Contemporary work - Valentin Bogolubov
Spirit of the Open Piano Competition - Vivian Fan
| N. | Photo | Name | Nationality | DOB | Profession | Category | Comment | Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Valentin Bogolubov |
Canada | 1948 | Pianist, Opera Conductor, Vocal Coach. | 1 | "Musician all my life [...] piano teacher, opera conductor, vocal coach, accompanist, art director. Since 1990 do yoga. [...] Participation in Open Piano Competition lets me feel young again." | First Place |
| 2 |
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Viviana Lasaracina |
Italy | 1988 | Pianist | 1 | "I would like to enter this contest because I would like to make some experiences in London and because, competitions always give the possibility to perform and to test your skills. Performing at the prestigious Steinway Hall is one more reason for choosing the Open Piano Competition!" | Second Place |
| 3 |
 |
Dominic Piers Smith |
UK (England) | 1975 | Formula One Car Aerodynamics Team Leader | 2 | "I currently work for Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, designing for Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. I restarted piano studies 6 years ago with a new (positive and slightly more disciplined!) approach to practice. [...] I just want to perform more regularly, so it feels more comfortable and I can come off the stage content that I have communicated my feelings as I intended to." | Third Place |
| 4 |
 |
Graham Rix |
UK | 1964 | Pianist / Workshop leader | 2 | "Open Piano Competition really caught my eye as something out of the ordinary. It offers someone like myself the potential opportunity to take part in this challenging and yet exciting arena and I am attracted to the Open's more inclusive approach - it seems to acknowledge & offer a forum to compare and contrast as well as to compete." | Finalist |
| 5 |
 |
Adam Kosmieja |
Poland | 1986 | Pianist, student | 1 | "I am looking for performance opportunities and I want to enter good competitions for as well personal and musical growth. I think that every competition brings a lot of new experience and individual progress. That is the reason I want to take part in your competition, also it's background and organization looks very appealing." | Finalist |
| 6 |
 |
Antoine Joubert |
Canada | 1980 | Pianist, composer and teacher. | 1 | "For me, competitions are a way of testing myself and gaining more variety of experiences in performance. I would especially like to come and play in London, where I have not yet had the chance to perform." | Finalist |
| 7 |
 |
Chia Chen (Vivian) Fan |
USA | 1979 | Teacher and Accompanist | 1 | "I teach private students as well as working as an accompanist. I am in demand for accompanying but really miss playing solo repertoire. This competition will motivate me to set aside time to practice solo repertoire instead of taking on more accompanying work." | Semi-finalist |
| 8 |
 |
Esfir Ross |
Moldova, USA | 1947 | Dental assistant | 2 | "I was born and studied piano in Moldova. I lived in Israel, Greece and for 31 in Oakland ,CA, USA. I perform in recitals and played concertos with orchestra. [...] I received many awards and win 2nd price at Rocky Mountains International Amateurs Piano Competition 2011." | Semi-finalist |
| 9 |
 |
Justin Kennedy |
Australia | 1970 | Language Teacher | 2 | "I would very much like to take part in this competition in order to create a goal for myself and to revive my musical activities. The competition would provide a further opportunity to perform on stage and to improve my performance experience." | Semi-finalist |
| 10 |
 |
Craig Rippe |
UK | 1976 | Finance manager | 2 | "I re-started lessons a year ago and have worked hard since then to achieve a better than ever before level. [...] This competition is a target, a challenge, and a reward." | Semi-finalist |
| 11 |
 |
Beatrice Stelzmüller |
Austria | 1992 | Student | 1 | "I am sure that this competition would be a perfect opportunity for me to show my talents and to have an amazing concert opportunity that I will very much enjoy." | Semi-finalist |
| 12 |
 |
Danner Carolin |
Germany | 1981 | Student, pianist and teacher | 1 | "The concept of your competition seems very good to me. I like the idea not to think too much in academic categories, but just to listen to any musician, however his way has been so far." | Semi-finalist |
| 13 |
 |
Fabio Sormani |
Italy | 1968 | Musician | 1 | Pianist and composer from Italy now studying conducting with Romolo Gessi at the European Academy in Vicenza. | Semi-finalist |
| 14 |
 |
Carre Benjamin |
France | 1990 | Student | 1 | "...I want to prepare a competition like this because it makes me work very hard to give my best in my practice every day, and because I love to be on stage. It's also a good opportunity to meet a lot of professional musicians." | Semi-finalist |
| 15 |
 |
Vu Ngoc |
Germany | 1993 | Student | 1 | "I am looking for a new challenge and I am looking forward to playing in front of the international jury." | Semi-finalist |
| 16 |
 |
Anita D'Attellis |
UK | 1973 | Pianist, accompanist, piano teacher | 1 | "In my early 30s [...] I was drawn towards solo performance, and absolutely loved it [...] I am now too old to go back to college as a soloist and there are hardly any competitions open to me at my age, as I have very little competitive experience. [...] I aim to perform at the highest level and now feel ready to challenge myself with your competition." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 17 |
 |
Ozgur Esen |
Turkey | 1977 | Pianist | 1 | Mert Esen has performed in over 300 concerts since 1990, and has won national and international piano competitions. "The Repertoire of the Competition is suitable and fits the program that I have been working on." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 18 |
 |
Kayoko Kobayashi |
Japan | 1980 | Pianist | 1 | Kayoko Kobayashi was born in Sendai(North Japan). She began her piano lessons at age four. [...] She now regularly performs solo, as a solist with orchestra, and chamber music concerts in Japan, Europe, and USA. | Performed in Round 1 |
| 19 |
 |
Yulia Hoffmann |
Russia | 1980 | Student | 2 | "I got interested in your competition because it is quite rare, that it allows not only professionals, but also grown-up amateurs to participate. I would not have this opportunity anywhere else, to try myself in a competition, meet other like-minded people and perform in a new exciting surrounding. Not mentioning the by-product: that my piano skills will also improve!" | Performed in Round 1 |
| 20 |
 |
Zheer Bajalan |
UK | 1980 | Therapist, student and teacher. | 2 | "I like many things, from music to yoga to therapy. I practise Yoga often and also teach Hatha yoga, I also practise Hypnosis, in fact I teach Yoga for Trance-Formation(yoga/hypnosis). Music is my passion, piano music is what I truly love, I also teach music theory." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 21 |
 |
Junko Nagaya |
Japan | 1975 | Student | 1 | "Since I was a student in the U.S., I've always been interested in going to London. I believe that the open piano competition would be a great opportunity for me to appear there as a pianist. Currently I work on Debussy`s Preludes. I hope that I would have a chance to play Debussy`s Preludes for the open piano competition." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 22 |
 |
Janet Baker-Murray |
USA | 1935 | Pianist/Teacher | 2 | "For twenty-five years, even while running a real estate office, a voice inside of me kept repeating "What you really want to be doing is music!" With the family grown and the financial and emotional responsibilities completed, returning to the piano and now having this opportunity to become a concert pianist is having my dream come true!" | Performed in Round 1 |
| 23 |
 |
Sonja Vorwerk |
Germany | 1990 | Student | 1 | "I am a twenty-one year old piano student from Germany and I am very ambitious about participating in international piano competitions. The Open Piano Competition would be the perfect opportunity to enhance my international career." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 24 |
 |
Phoebe Hoi Yiu Ng |
Hong Kong | 1991 | Student | 1 | "Entering the Open Piano Competition is an amazing opportunity to meet other pianists of different levels and backgrounds. It is also very exciting to hear that candidates may have chance to perform in the Steinway Hall." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 25 |
 |
Juan Rezzuto |
Argentina | 1984 | Pianist and Composer | 2 | Pianist and composer from Argentina. "I want to join the competition because I see it as a great opportunity to make myself known and also to meet with other professionals." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 26 |
 |
Yafen Wang |
Republic of China (Taiwan) | 1981 | Piano Accompaniment | 2 | "I never challenge my patience and passion on solo pieces.[...] give me a chance to participate in this great competition which would give me more power to develop my ability." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 27 |
 |
Hyojung Huh |
South Korea | 1979 | Student | 1 | "Attending Open Piano Competition will be a great opportunity to widen my musical experiences and to be inspired by various musicians." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 28 |
 |
Hannah-Elizabeth Teoh |
New Zealand | 1992 | Student | 1 | "I hope to follow a career in performance and would like to gain more experience in competitions." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 29 |
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Ieva Caune |
Latvia | 1989 | Student | 1 | "I decided to enter to this competition, because it is in three stages, where I can show all different sides of me, play from baroque to contemporary music, and show other musicians what I can do, how I understand my pieces and listen other talented pianists." | Performed in Round 1 |
| 30 |
 |
Joaquim Badia Arumí |
Spain | 1993 | Student | 1 | "I am looking to find short term goals that will help me keep motivated and the Open Piano Competition seemed like an excellent opportunity." | Unable to attend |
| 31 |
 |
Konstantin Kondrashov |
Russia | 1974 | Pianist | 1 | "Participant in a lot of music festivals in Russia and Europe [...] I would like to perfom my programme in your Competition." | Unable to attend |
| 32 |
 |
Althea Chan |
Hong Kong, China | 1989 | Student | 1 | "I grew up in a musical family. My parents are music teachers and my siblings are also musicians [...] competitions give me opportunity to meet other pianists and learn from each another." | Unable to attend |
| 33 |
 |
Elena Toponogova |
Russia | 1986 | Pianist, teacher | 1 | "It will be a great pleasure for me to take part in this competition." | Unable to attend |
| 34 |
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Elisa D'Auria |
Italy | 1983 | Student/Pianist | 1 | "I think that participating in the London Open Piano Competition would be a very interesting and exciting experience for me!" | Unable to attend |