PianoArts: Ahead of Competition

PianoArts: Ahead of Competition

Pianists compete for many reasons and experience rewarding benefits, great or small, whether or not they win. But a time comes when basic experience - nervousness, constructive criticism, additional performances, or small prizes - are not enough. At this time, pianists seek greater opportunity; some stepping stone to a professional career.

Numerous National and International competitions serve that purpose, such as the Gina Bachauer International Young Artists’ Competition, the Minnesota Piano-e-Competition, the Southeastern Piano Competition, the New York Piano Competition, the Virginia Waring International Competition (formerly the Joanna Hodges-), and the PianoArts National Piano Competition. Several of these competitions offer a performance with an orchestra; all demand great dedication from its competitors and deserve highest commendation for their standards of excellence.

Yet, only one of these competitions - PianoArts - provides one-on-one professional coaching for contestants prior to competing. Contestants also learn to interact with the audience by speaking about their music in each round, and in later years winners return for Milwaukee concerts. They also perform and speak with students at dozens of Milwaukee Public Schools as part of an extended Artist-in-Residence program. During the competition, PianoArts requires 71 minutes of music to be performed, mostly from memory, including the performance of a complete concerto by three finalists with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Experience the excitement June 22 through June 24, while ten semi-finalists compete in a grueling and inspiring quest to perform a full concerto with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, while reaching the stepping stone to a professional career.

Concerts: Do You Watch, Listen, or Experience?

Students, teachers, amateurs, music lovers: Don't underestimate the value of attending live concerts. With the ever-expanding range of technology, my generation often becomes socially isolated. Not in the sense that we don't hang out with friends, but because if we want to hear a fresh musical interpretation, check difficult fingering, or explore technical motions, we don't all flock to a concert; often, we individually search websites like youtube.com to hear and watch Arthur Rubinstein, Martha Algerich, Evgeny Kissin, Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel, Vladimir Horowitz and so on. But recordings cannot, and never will, adequately capture the subtleties of live acoustics and energy in a hall. It is a unique and exclusive interaction between audience member and performer. Just as you visit friends to see and hear them, it is through a combination of these senses that we want to be entertained, to be moved, to learn, to ponder, and - most of all - to be inspired. From June 20 through June 24, PianoArts gives us this chance to be exhilarated, as young men and women with gifts of great talent perform roughly 15 hours of piano repertoire cumulatively at various locations in Milwaukee. For students growing in music, this is invaluable. It is self-evident that we do not attend concerts to remind them of what music sounds like. We go to experience something fresh, live, and unpredictable. We go because we crave excellence. We admire beauty. We appreciate intellectual thoughtfulness. We go to inspire our imagination and see artists fulfill their dreams.