Deadline is coming right up (April 1). I hope LisztAddict will be coming again, and that perhaps some of our other members are applying!!

Mark--

ChopinAddict or LisztAddict? (Or both?)

Thank you Andy! I corrected it!
Although y'know, at this event LisztAddict sort of becomes "ChopinAddict"....

That would be something to see!

I see happily that you reconsidered!

Maybe next time around I'll be ready for this ... good luck to everyone.

Just keeping this thread warm....

We have (at least) 5 members participating.

Schedule
Preliminary round: Sept. 11-12
Semi-finals: Sept. 13
Finals: Sept. 14
"Winners concert": Sept. 15

So excited for this... my plane leaves Saturday evening and I will arrive Sunday. This will be my 2nd trip ever to Europe.

This is what I'm playing in the prelim on 2012.09.12 @ 6pm (9am Pacific)

Berceuse Op. 57 in D-flat major
Waltz Op. 64, No. 2 in c# minor
Waltz Op. 42 in Ab major

Challenging first piece! (For most people, not particularly for you.)

And we could say the same about Barcarolle, which I'll be starting with.

These pieces are what we might call 'deceptively' challenging -- they seem 'easier' than a lot of other pieces, but they really aren't. Not unlike how a lot of people think Mozart is 'easier' than whatever, as we keep seeing....

I am in Warsaw now and visited the society and the university this afternoon. All are very friendly and it will obviously be a fantastic week. I am so excited to be playing in the homeland of Chopin.

Good luck everyone!

Sam

I am so impressed that several of our members are participating in this competition. Hakki, Gorden, Marc_C, LisztAddict : You all already are winners! Enjoy the experience!

Best regards,

Who is the 5th member? Mark said "(at least) 5 members"...
Good luck, everyone, and if there are videos to live performances (or also archived performances) please post them here!

It's a person who seems to prefer mostly laying low and who might want to be quiet about it, so I'll keep it that way until I hear otherwise.

BTW the reason I said "at least" is that there may well be other members who are in it but who haven't wanted to post about their doings. Also it's a good bet that yet other participants have at least lurked here. After all, it does seem in general that PW has many more readers than members!

And in fact, maybe this thread will help to bring more of those participants and other readers onto here!

...and it seems I won't be able to attend after all I wish I could see all of you there! Sigh. Good luck! I will be keeping my fingers crossed! These will be one heck of a competition I presume, so many great players.

Do you know if Thomas is attending these year as well?

So sorry to hear it, Mati! We'll miss you.

About Thomas: I don't know if he's attending but I'd guess probably not. Former winners and finalists don't usually attend these competitions unless they're participating again.

Ah, I completely forgot that - that's right. I never really exchanged many words with him, and I really wanted to, especially considering the fact he deemed me a friend on Facebook ;-)

I wish I could go and see you all guys, but unfortunately I am not able to skip the work in the middle of the week this time. The schedule is tight, and I promised my girl to have few days off with her the next week, so it's even more impossible for me to skip work right now.

I wish they would make online streaming of the competition just like they did with the "big" Chopin's competition, but it seems unlikely considering the scale.

Good thing is I will be able to participate in the next edition, as I will certainly meet the age requirements - so we'll see there, I hope! Or maybe there will be an opportunity earlier somewhere else?


M.

Best of luck and enjoyment for all our the Piano world forum participants. Enjoy the glorious events and music.

I would like to reiterate BruceD's sentiments. It is great that all of you have achieved a world class level of amateur piano playing while sustaining impressive careers in entirely different fields.

While you are in the area, I recommend taking the time to see Warsaw and perhaps other parts of Poland (e.g. Krakow). Poland has a tragic history due to domination (and destruction) by both the Russians and the Germans that is quite apparent when visiting Warsaw. Chopin himself was very much affected by this. He emigrated to Paris as part of the 1831-1870 Great Emigration of Poles out of Poland due to Russian domination. Chopin arrived in Paris in 1831 and never returned to Poland. His Revolutionary Etude was supposedly inspired by the failed November Uprising (1830-1831) by Poland against Russian domination. Warsaw was almost completely destroyed by the Nazis in World War II. There are thus historical sites like the Royal Castle (Zamek Krolewski) which have been newly reconstructed since World War II.

Once again, congratulations and best of luck to (in alphabetical order) Gorden, Hakki, LisztAddict, and Marc_C!

Thank you, Otis! How beautifully said. I'm not sure I quite live up to exactly what you said but I happily accept the compliment, and I'm sure the others do too.


Yes -- we did last time, helped by a very nice guided tour that was offered by the organization and which they will do again this time. Also my wife and I will be going to Krakow for a few days after the competition.

I'm very conscious of the history that you talked about, especially because my family was from there and Poland's story was very much their story. Poland's history in general is that of a landlocked country constantly being invaded and dominated by others. The recent independence is a blessing and Poland has been thriving wonderfully in it. It is a joy to see and to experience.

BTW Otis, it sounds like you've been to Poland yourself and know it quite well??