On October 7th, the Hunan Division of the 10th Steinway National Youth Piano Competition and the 85th Steinway International Youth Piano China Competition held an award ceremony at the Steinway Concert Hall in Changsha. Famous pianist and educator, associate professor of China Conservatory of Music, chairman of the jury of Hunan Division of this competition Wang Wei; Professor, doctoral supervisor, director of the Department of Performance, director of Changsha Concert Hall Kuang Yongsheng, professor of the School of Music of Hunan Normal University, director of the Changsha Concert Hall; Zuo Chengde, vice chairman of the Art Education Center of the Chinese Culture Promotion and Exchange Association and president of the Hunan Qunwen Keyboard Music Society; Lan Yunfei, vice president of the Hunan Qunwen Keyboard Music Society, secretary general of the Hunan Provincial Music Association Teaching and Working Committee, and general executive of the competition; Xu Shengen, Steinway Piano Asia-Pacific Regional Sales Manager Ye Zi, general manager of Changsha Steinway Store, Li Huimin, marketing director of Changsha Steinway Store and executive director of the organizing committee of the competition, attended the award ceremony.
At the ceremony, Xu Shengen introduced that the Steinway International Youth Piano Competition began in Germany in 1936 and was founded for the 100th anniversary of the birth of the first Steinway piano in 1836. Whether it is the number of participants, the scale of the competition, the authority and professional influence of the competition, it has become one of the highest standard piano competitions in China, and many outstanding pianists have come out of the Steinway Piano Competition, building a stage for countless young music lovers and artistic talents to realize their dreams.
Professor Wang Wei said that as a judge of the professional competition, he expressed surprise and expectation for the performance of many players in the amateur group, highly praised the piano teachers in Hunan, and also had ardent expectations for the piano children in Hunan, hoping that more excellent children could emerge in Hunan in the future and improve the level of the entire piano industry.
At the award ceremony, the first runners in each group were invited to play live on stage. After the performance, the guests presented certificates and trophies to the winners of the competition.
Professor Wang Wei presented the Outstanding Mentor Award to the teachers of the grand prize winners, and the outstanding students who won the grand prize will represent the Hunan Division and go to Wuhan, Hubei Province to participate in the finals of central China. The winners will compete with players from all over the country in the national competition next March.
The Steinway Competition has been in China for nearly 20 years and has been successfully held for 10 sessions, which not only provides a better exercise stage for children, but also provides a bridge for more piano initiation educators to learn and communicate, and promotes and learns from each other in the competition.