Hong Kong Youth Wins First Prize in Bachauer Junior Piano Competition
Twelve-year-old Rachel Cheung of Hong Kong won the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition (ages 11-13) first prize Saturday following a final round performance of Mozart’s Concerto in D Minor, K. 466 (first movement). Six finalists out of 37 competitors from 15 countries performed concerti with orchestral accompaniment at a second piano played by Michael Sushel of Los Angeles. Cheung took home $7,000 for her efforts, which included performances during preliminary rounds totaling 50 minutes of music.
SiJing Ye of Beijing, age 12, won second prize and $5,000 and Hyun Jung Kim, 13, of Seoul, took home $4,000 and third prize. Fourth prize and $3,000 went to Qizhen He of Shenzhen, P.R. China; fifth prize ($2,000) to Karsten Gimre, 11, of Banks, Ore. USA; and sixth ($1,000) to Sara Vujadinovic, 13, of Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.
The skill level was so much higher and more impressive than the last Bachauer Junior Competition, held in 2000, that some audience members were moved to donate money to provide additional prizes. One Salt Lake City couple gave $600 so that there could be six awards of merit of $100 given to the competitors ranked 7th-12th: Wei-Xin Zhou of PR China, Roman Martynov and Alina Souetova of Moscow, David Ko of California, Navfal Mukumiy of Uzbekistan, and Kirill Kurilenko of Pyatigorsk, Russia. Another anonymous donor contributed $3,100 so that the non-finalist competitors could each receive $100 in appreciation for their dedication and hard work.
David Ko, thatz me
anyway it was a really rewarding experience...so if u have a chance to participate in international competitions...seize the chance and do so!!!
Topic: Bachauer Junior Piano Competition 2004 results