The Australian final of the 6th Kayserburg International Youth Piano Competition was officially held on 29 September at the Schonell Cinema & Live Theatre of the University of Queensland in Brisbane.
This was the first final of Kayserburg Australia organized by the Pearl River Piano Group (Guangzhou, China). The Kayserburg International Youth Piano Competition took place on a biennial platform and is currently organized by the Pearl River Piano Group (Guangzhou, China), the world’s largest youth piano competition, in which well over 80,000 candidates are participating this year.
The first Australian final was jointly organised by Brisbane YW MUSIC and the Sydney Piano Centre, both of which are pearl river, kayserburg and Ritmuller piano dealers.
This year, eight talented young pianists from Sydney and Brisbane qualified for the local semi-finals, and they were ready to seek the highest honours, as a winner of the grand prize would represent Australia to participate in the final of the Kayserburg International Youth Piano Competition in Guangzhou, China, in November.
The eager crowd gathered on campus to enjoy this spectacular performance and experience the wonderful artistic representation of the pianistic art of our young participants. The audience was intrigued by the quick fingers flying over the 88 keys of the 9-foot Kayserburg concert grand piano GH275, which was specially prepared and shipped from the Guangzhou Pearl River factory to Brisbane.
One of the jurors, Roger Cui, commented on the 9-foot concert grand piano from Kayserburg, which was the official piano for the competition, as follows: “After careful consideration, I would like to share the following thoughts about the 9-foot concert grand piano from Kayserburg, which I tested on Saturday at YW Music: It is an extremely satisfying piano that can be played. The sound can penetrate very well, which means that it will not be a problem to play a piano concert instrument together with a full-size orchestra. The coating of the buttons offers high safety against sweat and slipping. The key mechanics respond very well. I was very impressed by the mood of the piano, that after 30 minutes of Franz Liszt’s transcendental etudes it remained tuned as if it had just tuned. Ein Klavier von hoher Qualität”.
On this promising occasion, our honorable jury was led by Greg Thompson, Chairman of the Board of Southern Cross Soloist, concert pianist Roger Cui, artistic director of Ladybug’s studio, and Alex Rainerti, described by Limelight Magazine as “a soloist of superior virtuosity and musicality.”
After careful consideration, the jury selected the following 3 deserving winners from among the 8 participants:
Grand Prize: Sunny Gu
Second Prize: Ian Wu
Third Prize: Yuchen Lei
The winner of the Grand Prix will participate in the Kayserburg Grand Finals in Guangzhou, China, from 8 to 12 November 2019 together with young artists from all over the world.
In Guangzhou, the best young pianists in the world will have the opportunity to showcase their musical talents on the stage of the Music Hall of the Xinghai Music Conservatory,” said Leng Tshua, Director of Global Sales and Marketing of Pearl River Piano Group, “with the support of Pearl River Piano Group, we look forward to the further development of piano craft and musical interaction between talented young pianists worldwide , with a focus on promoting piano education for families and children.
The original competition began in 1983 under the name “Guangzhou Pearl River Cup” and quickly established itself as one of the most prestigious youth piano competitions in the world. In 2009, the competition was renamed the Kayserburg International Youth Piano Competition and quickly became the largest biennial event for the pianistic community in both China and overseas partner countries. Through years of promoting talent and striving for excellence, Pearl River Kayserburg Company quickly achieved a top brand positioning among numerous domestic competitors in China and firmly established itself as the Chinese national brand in the piano industry. Today, Kayserburg is an integral part of the platform for aspiring teens who want to pursue their talents and share them with the world by encouraging young people to participate in live concerts around the globe.
The Pearl River Kayserburg International Youth Piano Competition is an international youth piano competition with high standard, high quality and high level. It is an honour for us to have won the families and friends from Sydney and Brisbane for participating in the final round, and our sincere thanks go to both Brisbane YW Music and the Sydney Piano Centre for their joint efforts in organising this successful event on behalf of the Pearl River Piano Group.