JORGE LUIS PRATS

We are looking forward to our opening concert on Friday Oct 30th where Cuban pianist Jorge Luis Prats will play Villa-Lobos' Bachiana Brasileira no. 4, Albeniz' six pieces from Iberia and Cervantes' Cuban Dances suite in the first half and Chopin and Ravel in the second half. A detailed program is posted on our website. Prats is a performer born to be on stage and Spanish and Cuban music are so close to his heart. He gives audiences the feeling of being at a historical recital. This should be an unforgettable evening that should not be missed. We asked many pianists who they would invite for a concert, and their answer was always the same: Jorge Luis Prats. They were referring to the recordings of the 3rd Rachmaninov concerto that you should definitely have in your collection.

THE CHOPIN COMPETITION

I have just returned from the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, completely exhausted after an intense three weeks of the Competition. First, it is not an easy task to listen to the same pieces played over and over again by so many competitors. Second, I did not have time to rest because all my spare time was taken by a number of meetings with many interesting people like Chopin scholars, presenters, music critics who arrived to watch this Competition. I also met several jurors who have played for our Society in the past. There was also excitement growing due to the fact that Canadian pianists impressed everybody from the very first stage. The atmosphere was fantastic: pianists were showing up in the lobby after each performance to sign autographs and a big crowd always formed in the hall after the last performer of each stage of the competition, waiting anxiously for an official announcement of who made the next stage. After the finals the excitement went very high because it was clear that the Canadian, for the very first time in the history of this Competition, can not only get the prize but win the Competition. We were waiting four hours for official results to find out that among six prize winners two Canadians were awarded.

Charles Richard-Hamelin got the second prize and 16 year-old Tony Yike Yang got the fifth prize. Tony is the youngest prizewinner in the history of the competition. This is a historical Canadian success.

We will present Charles and the first prize winner next season. North America was very strong as the third and fourth prize went to Americans, Kate Liu and Eric Lu. Many of you have already seen Eric Lu recently when we presented him on September 1 at the Vancouver Academy of Music.
I had the honour to present an award from the Vancouver Chopin Society for the 1st prize winner at an official ceremony on October 22nd.
There were some interesting events as part of the Competition. Krystian Zimerman and Martha Argerich were awarded with an honorary doctorate: Zimerman by the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and Argerich by the Academy of Music in Katowice. Martha Argerich and Nelson Goerner opened the Competition playing Schumann and Paderewski concertos and both played in Katowice Rachmaninov' Symphonic Dances.

The AGM

Every five years at the time of the Chopin Competition, the International Federation of Chopin Societies organizes the AGM in Warsaw and every member Chopin Society in the world is represented by one person. Our Society was officially represented by our Board member, Vince Cardella.
During the special Grand Chopin meeting before the AGM, I received the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis - given by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland. The medal was presented by Dr. Artur Szklener, Director of the Chopin Institute in Warsaw.

Iko Bylicki