Contest preliminaries

Press, 8 December 1982, Page 18

Contest preliminaries

The preliminaries of the sixteenth national concerto competition run by the Christchurch civic Music Council, will be .held on Friday and Saturday in the Town Hall auditorium. About 23 young pianists from Auckland, Napier, Wellington, Paraparaumu, Lower Hutt and Christchurch will compete in the contest, which this year is for the piano. ' r Sessions will begin at 10 atm., ’2 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. each day, all sessions being open to the public. The competitors will each play a selection of up to 20 minutes duration from the concerto of their own choice, with piano accompaniment.

Six semi-finalists will be chosen to give a repeat performance on the Saturday at 7.30 p.m. From these six, three finalists will be selected to perform the entire concerto, accompanied by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. This final will be a public concert in the Town Hall on Saturday February 12, for prizes of $lOOO, $5OO and $3OO. Composers chosen this year include Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Schumann, and Shostakovich. The adjudicator for the preliminary sessions will be Mr Kenneth Eade, an examiner for the Trinity Col-

lege of Music. London, who is in New Zealand examining al present. Mr Eade is himself an accomplished pianist and has, given many concerts in Britain, both as a soloist, and accompanist. The Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council has recognised the national importance of this competition over past years by giving financial support, and this year has given a $2500 grant towards administration costs. Contributors have also come from “The Press,” and Christchurch City Council, and the Paparua and Heathcote County councils.