The awarding ceremony of 5th Hamamatsu International Piano
Competition were held. [11.24]
.
 On
November 23, 2003, the second day of the final stage and the awarding
ceremony of 5th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition were
held. The juries reached a conclusion to have no 1st prizewinner
for the first time in the competition. Instead, two 2nd prizewinners,
Alexander KOBRIN and Rafal BLECHACZ were named.
Sergei SALOV won the 3rd prize and SUDO and SEKIMOTO shared the
4th prize. The 5th prize was given to SUZUKI. Diplomas of Outstanding
Merit were given to Romain DESCHARMES and David FRAY. DESCHARMES
also won the Best Performer of the Japanese Work.
Regarding the result, NAKAMURA Hiroko, the head of the juries
said in a press conference, "Up to the 4th competition, we
had outstanding first prizewinners. We made a decision to have
no 1st prizewinner according to the comparison in a sense. We
also made the results considering not only the final stage, but
also their solo performance in the 3rd stage."
Fanny WATERMAN, the vice-chairperson of the juries said, "In
a high-level competition like this, every stage and every part
need to be perfectly performed. Given that, we did not have anyone
who maintained the level."
83 contestants from 29 countries and an area participated this
event. Among them, 29 contestants with prizes from the World Federation
of International Music Competition, or WFIMC were included. They
performed up to the 3rd stage and the 6 chosen finalists performed
with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by OTOMO Naoto on
the 22nd and the 23rd. BLECHACZ, SUZUKI and SEKIMOTO performed
on the first day and SALOV, SUDO and KOBRIN did on the second
day.
The 2nd prizewinner, KOBRIN studied at Moscow Conservatory of
Music and won the 3rd prize at Chopin International Piano Competition
(Warsaw) 2002. He is one of the most talented Russian pianists.
He impressed the audiences with his tasteful performance of RAKHMANINOV.
"Because the condition was great here, I knew all I had to
do was to do my best."
The other prizewinner BLECHACZ studies at A. Rubinstein State
Music School in Bydgoszcz of Poland. He auditioned in Vienna and
his pure performance with great technique brought him the prize.
In the press conference, he said, "I am very happy to be
here (to be able to win). Today, I played to show my appreciation
towards the support given by the Japanese audiences."
 The
prizewinners were announced up to the third. The list was remained
with only two names. Then NAKAMURA, the chairperson of the juries
said, "We have two 2nd prizewinners." The hall was filled
with surprise.
It was the moment to show the pride of the Hamamatsu International
Piano Competition, which does not allow any unqualified 1st prizewinners.
The awarding ceremony was held in front of 6,000 audiences on
the second day of the final stage. KITAWAKI, the mayor of Hamamatsu
city said, "I appreciate that we could have 83 contestants
from 29 countries and one area for the competition. The finalists
were recognized and I hope them good luck. I would also thank
the 13 juries and volunteers." He continued, "The city
Hamamatsu will pursue building a city of music and keep supporting
to improve music culture."
NODAIRA, the chairperson of Management Committee followed after
that, and then NAKAMURA took over. She said, "The competition
expanded by the support of Hamamatsu city and the citizens. I
was very happy to see how serious the audiences listened."
And then she announced the results.
First, a Best Performer of the Japanese Work winner was announced
and a French contestant Romain DESCHARMES was called. He went
up to the stage to receive mementos. Winners of Diploma of Outstanding
Merit, DESCHARMES and David FREY were revealed next. After that,
the audiences found that there was no one who would receive the
6th prize. When SUDO found out that she won the 4th prize, her
eyes showed tears.
When the 2nd prizewinners, BLECHACZ and KOBRIN were called, they
went up to the stage and shook hands firmly. They received certificates
of merits from NAKAMURA, mementos from KITAWAKI, and trophy from
NODAIRA. The finalists all received bouquets and then flash of
cameras surrounded them.
After the awarding ceremony held in the main hall, the press conference
was held from 8 P.M. at the banquet hall Pearl of Okura Act City
Hamamatsu. Eight prizewinners, KITAWAKI Yasuyuki, the mayor of
Hamamatsu, NAKAMURA Hiroko, the headperson of the juries, Fanny
WATERMAN and Arie VARDI, the vice chairpersons of the juries attended.
The press conference started with a speech of KITAWAKI, and then
NAKAMURA gave an overall comment. She mentioned the difficulty
of the first stage, which limited the number of contestants to
only 25 out of 83. "I wish we could choose about 40 contestants.
I have been a jury at many competitions, but the level of the
competition was one of the highest."
She also mentioned each prizewinner. She told the press about
BLECHACZ, "I feel that I found him in the Vienna audition,"
and about KOBRIN, "He has improved very much since the Chopin
International Competition 3 years ago." About SALOV, she
said, "I met him for the first time at F. Busoni International
Piano Competition. He participated the previous competition and
the Hamamatsu Piano Academy this year. You can say that Hamamatsu
raised the pianist," and about SEKIMOTO and SUDO, said, "They
were very young and energetic."
"His biggest issue is a lack of stamina," she said about
SUZUKI and continued, "He has great personality as an artist
and sprit."
One of the two vice-chairpersons of the juries VERDI said, "As
you know, we have no 1st prizewinner. I would like to give this
prize to the organization. The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and OTOMO
supported us very much too. I have never been to a competition
with such few problems."
After each contestant gave comments, Gustav ALINK, competition
critic asked the reason why the competition did not have the 1st
prizewinner. NAKAMURA answered by saying, "Up to the 4th
competition, we had outstanding first prizewinners. We made a
decision to have no 1st prizewinner according to the comparison
in a sense." WATERMAN said, "In a high-level competition
like this, every stage and every part need to be perfectly performed.
Given that, we did not have anyone who maintained the level. I
was not impressed with the third prize as much as I was in the
first and the second stages." VERDI said, "Competitions
are very democratic. Some juries thought of giving the 1st prize,
but the major part was against the idea. The rest agreed with
the idea in the end."
BLECHACZ
"I am grateful for everybody. I was very nervous before I
arrived, but everybody was nice here. I tried to make a beautiful
performance to show my appreciation to them. The hardest part
of the competition was the 1st stage. I was very worried how I
could perform and give a good impression within 20 minutes."
 KOBRIN
"I am very happy to be able to perform in front of many
Japanese audiences. I was impressed with the organization, so
as far as the condition of the performance goes, it was all
set. All I needed to do was to do my best. I found it hard mentally
and physically during the competition. I could not perform comfortably
in the third stage."
SALOV
"I want to thank the juries, the staff members, the conductor,
the journalists and everybody else. There is a long love story
between this beautiful city Hamamatsu and myself. The most difficult
part of the competition was the trip to Japan. I live in London
now, but the public official of my country was not very helpful,
so I could not arrive on time. Mr. NODAIRA drew my performance
order and he brought me luck. That was the best thing happened
here."
SEKIMOTO
"The condition here was very nice. I think it brought my
ability better. The finalists performed between two and a half
hours and three and a half hours up to the final. I learned
that if you do not prepare in advance, it was almost impossible
to perform the next stage. It was a great experience for me
to finish the piece by participating the international competition."
SUDO
"Thank you very much. I tried my best stage by stage. I
am very satisfied that I have come this far. Performing my favorite
piece of PROKOFIEV with the orchestra was wonderful. I felt
that I was losing my stamina during the third stage. It was
also hard for me to keep my concentration in the first stage
while waiting for 4 other performers."
SUZUKI
"I am very satisfied now. I felt very weak physically during
the competition, but the secretariat and people around me supported
me. The hardest time mentally was the first stage. I played
on the first day on the first and the second stages. I had to
perform with young pianists on the both days, so I thought it
was difficult. As Ms. NAKAMURA said, I need to work on my stamina.
I found out I was the oldest among the contestants, so now I
know why I was the one with little stamina (said jokingly).
I would like to improve myself to prove my prize."
"At the hotel I am staying, a 93-year-old lady from Miyazaki
prefecture came and told me how grateful she was for the competition.
That made me very happy," NAKAMURA, the chairperson of
the juries said at the farewell party held after the awarding
ceremony. The atmosphere completely changed from the one in
the awarding ceremony. The party was very relaxing with 300
people including contestants, juries and staff members.
At the beginning of the party, KITAWAKI Yasuyuki, the mayor
of Hamamatsu city said, "I appreciate the effort of young
pianists," praising 8 prizewinners. He also said, "With
the support of juries, staff members and volunteers, we will
try to expand the competition to provide opportunities to young
musicians."
NAKAMURA gave a comment including the previous episode. "The
competition was wonderful with full of variety." When she
told the party the story of the old lady, the party gave a lot
of applause.
Renate RONNEFELD, Secretary General of the World Federation
of International Music Competitions said, "This competition
in Hamamatsu city is very loving. I am sure that the love gives
contestants strength. I had a great time here."
After NODAIRA, Chairperson of Management Committee gave a toast,
local sponsors including Yamaha and Shizuoka Bank gave mementos.
In the party, some juries praised contestants and gave some
advice in person. Some citizens went to the contestants asking
for pictures and autographs. A participant from Tokyo said,
"It was my first time here at the competition. I am very
surprised how big it was. I was impressed with the young pianists
and its dynamism, so I will make sure to come here again."
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