More... Piano Competitions...

The Kerikeri International Piano competitions are held every 2 years. They start on Thursday night... Which I told you about yesterday...
Friday there three rounds, morning, afternoon and evening...
Each of the 16 competitors, chosen from a field of 43,  plays a Sonata of their choice

This is the downstairs entrance. This facility is quite new and an enormous credit to Kerikeri...
They now have somewhere for International standard events.

Upstairs to the foyer and bar area.
 This was manned by volunteers who did a wonderful job with drinks, cups of tea and coffee...
All in a rush at intervals.
The whole place was beautifully heated

There were 16 competitors from all round the world...
Taiwan, Australia, Malaysia, South Korea, New Zealand, Armenia, China,
Hong Kong, Ukraine, and Poland

The beautiful auditorium... Comfortable seats, well heated...
International standard grand piano...

And an overhead screen to view the pianists hands.
The second round on Saturday, morning, afternoon and evening,  was a recital round where each competitor chose a 45 minute balanced program of music composed since 1685.
There was a great variety and some more interesting than others, but all played with great execution and passion.
The audience could vote for their choice... There was a prize for this so there was great discussion and debate over the two days.
At the end of Saturday four finalists were announced... What tension...
Yeh Shih Hsien from Taiwan... Who eventually was the first place getter with a prize of $12,000...
Szczepan Konczal from Poland, who achieved second place...
Anna Maksymova from the Ukraine who gained third place...
James Guan from Sydney, born in China, who received fourth prize.
Sunday morning the Adjudicator gave a Masterclass...
This was fascinating to see, hear and watch how he picked things out of a seemingly flawless performance...
That could be improved upon.
Sunday afternoon was a packed house for the finals... The announcements...
Then a reception to congratulate the competitors and hear their plans for the future.
It's now all over... for another two years.