I must be out of the loop (or "The Loop" as the case may be). When did they change the name of the Sears Tower??? What next, renaming Wrigley Field to "Amazon.com Field" or Soldier's Field to "Oprah Winfrey Field"???

Scott

Sears Tower info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Tower


They better not touch Wrigley Field!

I'm sure you'll have a great time. Always interesting and stimulating to mix with fellow pianists. Good luck!

It really is an interesting experience. And thank you, Andrew, but I haven't even entered yet. The applications won't be ready until the first of July. In the meantime, I will just keep gently prodding you all to enter along with me....so...PLEASE ENTER THE COMPETITION WITH ME!

Maybe you could tell us a little about the first edition, seeing that you took part. That way we know what to expect and how to prepare.

Well, first you have to submit an audition CD of recent recordings - about ten minutes worth. Then you wait to see if you are accepted. I think this year there will be many more applicants so it might be even harder to get in. For the actual competition - the way it was last year and probably similar next year, is that there are three rounds. You play for about 10 minutes in the first round, about 20 minutes in the second round, and 30 minutes in final round. Repertoire can be practically any classical piano music but cannot be repeated in subsequent rounds. Also, you don't have to play by memory - they will supply a page-turner if you need one.

One thing I know for sure is that you cannot be too prepared! The level of playing is extremely high - really I felt some of the competitors were professional-level. But still, I liked the fact that most of the competitors were 'normal' people like me ( ) who just happen to play piano well but happened to also make slips or have memory lapses. And only about 12 people go on to the second round (last year the first round had about 55 competitors). I was eliminated after the first round, but I didn't mind because I was so relieved that I had done it in the first place. It was a real big personal challenge to myself - something I just had to do sometime in my life.

So all you have to do now is pick out your pieces and start practicing. I don't think I had a whole year to prepare last time like we do this time so this is a good thing. Let's hope you, me, and anyone else here is ready to play our heart out next May! One more thing - you get to play on a Fazioli, which is so sweet....!

This all sounds feaseable. 50 hours of repertoire is not out of this world.

I would say there are amateurs and amateurs. In their definition a someone who could have been a concert pianist but who happens to make his living as a diamond merchant or an astonaut would qualify. Reading many of the biographies on the site I notice many mambers are in that category, for example (not that any of them sells diamonds or lives on the moon). I have heard of pianists who gave up because they did not want to live out of a suitcase and to lead a normal life.

50 hours? Hehe.

Yes, I've noticed that the definition of amateur tends to be a bit spurious in the competition context. I don't think that someone who has been conservatoire-trained, done piano as a career, but then moved on to work as something else is really an amateur just because they don't derive an income from the piano.

It's a very long competition....

I meant a total of 50 minutes a person! Yes, for those listening... it might well be 50 hours!

I am not being self-depricating here, but I am not sure I would be (at present at least) capable even of being accepted. I certainly feel very modest when I read some of the biographies of the "Amateurs".

I know what you mean, some of the bios are intimidating. But if you go into a competition like this with the notion of just challenging yourself, and not trying to 'beat' those big-shots, then you'll have a better experience. Plus, I heard a lot of music I had not heard before so I got some good ideas for pieces that I wanted to play myself some day. And then it's just sort of fun to see how people behave at a function like this. You see all kinds....

What is the story I was told once by my earstwhile teacher? That at a competition at the Paris Conservatoire one girl came along and sat. Then the started to adjust the height of the stool. Then she sat down. Adusted again, adjusted, sat... At which point the judges told her, "Young lady, you may leave: you are disqualified."

Oh boy, that sounds quite scary!

______
What a bummer!!!!
Poor thing
Hopefully by now, she has made it big and the judge is kicking himself/herself for disqualifying her!

I just found out that I am accepted - that I'll be in the competition in May. Yay!