Piano comp best yet

the cost.

I like to work on my gardens and home. There’s nothing like giving it a go and then looking at what you have achieved.

Strong piano performances at New Zealand’s only international piano competition resounded in Kerikeri recently.

The winner of the biennial Kerikeri International Piano Competion held from June 30 to July 3 was Dong-Wan Ha from South Korea.

Dong-Wan Ha pocketed the top prize monetary award of $15,000.

He has been studying in the United States and entered the award when he saw it posted on an American website.

The 28-year-old is a recipient of a special combined artist diploma in both piano performance and collaborative piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Second prize went to Dong Yi Lee from Australia and third went to Samuel Deason from Canada.

Competition director John Jackets says this year was the most successful in the history of the competition.

‘‘There was a record 62 entries this year, an increase of 15 percent over the previous event held in 2014.

‘‘The standard required to make the initial cut was noticeably higher than in previous years which suggests those who entered are further along in their careers than in previous years.’’

Adjudicators for this year’s event were Albert Tiu from Singapore, Jan Jiracek Von Armin from Austria, and Eleanor Wong from Hong Kong.

‘‘ I think the Waipapa Rd intersection is a particularly dangerous one. Perhaps there should be more discussion about fixing it.’’ David Semb