On Saturday, March 26, 2022, the third Paderewski International Piano Competition ended in Los Angeles, USA.
The highly acclaimed competition was established by the Paderewski Music Society in Los Angeles, a non-profit organization that has been bringing together distinguished musicians and music lovers since 2008 to promote the legacy of the great Polish pianist, statesman and philanthropist Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Since its beginnings, in addition to organizing two international piano competitions – the first in 2010 – the Society has sponsored many cultural events, including concerts, piano recitals, master classes and film screenings. Over the years, the membership of the Society has grown, and with it the financial resources of generous benefactors, allowing the Society to continue organizing the Competitions.
We are very pleased to announce, that pianist Andrzej Wierciński has won third prize at the third edition of the American International Paderewski Piano Competition in Los Angeles.
The Competition was open to pianists aged 16-31 who first submitted 20-25-minute-long video recording for the preliminary round. The semi-final round was carried out live at the LMU’s Murphy Recital Hall. Seventy-two contestants between the ages of 16 and 30 from the US, Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam applied by submitting video recordings for the preliminary round.
Although the semi-final round was to include only twenty-five contestants, the jury finally selected twenty-eight pianists to participate in live auditions.
All competitors were required to present one work by Paderewski (the choices included Op. 9 nos. 1 & 6, Op. 14 nos. 5 & 6, and Op. 16 nos. 1 & 4), with the remaining portion of a 25-minute repertoire segment left to the contestant’s choice. This stage of the Competition took three consecutive days, March 21, 22 and 23, with individual performances scheduled between 1 and 7 p.m.
Capped at 50-55 minutes, the final round of the Competition also left the young pianists to select their repertoire, with the proviso that none of the works presented in previous rounds were allowed. All finalists were heard on Friday, March 25 starting at 11 a.m. and going well into the evening hours.
The artist performed:
Semifinal Round
I. J. Paderewski Nocturne in B-flat Major Op. 16 No. 4
F. Chopin Scherzo in B minor Op. 20
J. S. Bach/ Busoni Chaconne in D minor, BWV 1004
Final Round
S. Rachmaninov Corelli Variations in D minor Op. 42
F. Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F minor Op. 52
F. Schubert/ Liszt Litanei (Auf das Fest Aller Seelen) D. 343
S. Prokofiev Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major Op. 83
Source: https://paderewskimusicsociety.org/