The audiences do not get to see the performance of contestants on November 20th and 21st even though the 3rd stage has been over already. This is to report what is happening during those two days.

The venue of the final stage will be moved from a smaller concert hall to the main hall. The pianos are getting ready to be moved there as well. OTOMO Naoto, the orchestra conductor and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra arrived Hamamatsu for the final part of the event.

On the 20th and the morning of the 21st, each finalist had a 20-minute meeting with the conductor. In the afternoon of the 21st, seventy minutes were given to the contestants to practice with the orchestra. For some contestants, this event is going to be the first time to play with orchestra. The rest of them have experienced similar occasions.
Two joint meetings were also held between the conductor and the contestants of each day.

SUDO Rina (Japan) is one of the finalists who have performed with orchestra. In fact, she played "Ah vous dirai-je, mama" by Mozart with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra when she was an elementary school student. The piece she is performing today is Concerto No.3 in C major op.26 by Prokofiev, the one she was dreaming to play with an orchestra. Her dream is coming true. Congratulations!

Sergei SALOV (Ukraine) has also performed with orchestras in London and France, but it is the first time for him to perform in Japan. His concerto debut will be taken place in Hamamatsu, the city he is familiar with, and the citizens are very proud of it. Concerto No.1 in b flat minor op.23 of Tchaikovsky is chosen for the stage. Two other contestants will also play the popular piece. It will be very interesting to listen to it comparing each contestant.

Alexander KOBRIN (Russia) seemed relaxed after finding out he was going to the final. He has performed with KOBAYASHI Kenichiro, a Japanese conductor before, so he was wondering what OTOMO would be like. He went into the room to meet OTOMO with a smile.

It was very warm in Hamamatsu on the 21st. He collected some information somewhere and gave the author the weather forecast of the day and the next. He is a great pianist and at the same time, great person to talk to.

After talking to all the contestants, OTOMO gave us a comment. "The juries will have a very tough time having a conclusion as the finalist are all wonderful. I will try to create the piece with the pianists and the orchestra, playing along with the tempo and their characteristics. There are three contestants who are performing Tchaikovsky. Each of them is very different," OTOMO said. It sure will be great two days. Good luck to all the contestants.