Sixteen-year-old pianist wins the 4th Philippine Steinway Youth Piano Competition
Asixteen-year-old bested 15 other finalists to win the grand prize of the 4th Philippine Steinway Youth Piano Competition held at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza, Makati City. Gregory Cheong will represent the country at the Steinway Regional Finals in Taiwan this coming August.
Performing pieces by Joseph Haydn, Claude Debussy and Frédéric Chopin, Cheong also took home the top prize for Category 3 (ages 15 to 17). The winners for Category 1, ages 11 and below, are: Selina Go (1st place), Angelmay Tsai (1st runner up), and William Matthew Lim (2nd runner-up); for Category 2, ages 12 to 14: Athena Justina Elizaga (1st place), Nathan Go (1st runner up), Catherine Li (2nd runner-up), and Sophia Domique Sumolong (imagin.Asia representative); and for Category 3, ages 15 to 17: Irene Jasmine Lee (1st runner up) and Andrea Bernadette Verzosa (2nd runner-up).
Steinway Artists Professor Benjamin Loh (Singapore) and Professor Eleanor Wong (Hong Kong), as well as Professor Albert Tiu who is a renowned Filipino pianist based in Singapore, judged the competition.
“We saw wonderful performances from each contestant,” said Steinway Boutique Manila Brand Manager May Yao. “It was clear that they all put their hearts and souls into the pieces that they played, and it was a treat seeing how they interpreted such timeless, beautiful compositions. We are very excited to have Gregory represent the Philippines at the Regional Finals in Taiwan in August. I would also like to congratulate the winners from each category who have dedicated their time and efforts to prepare for the Grand Finals.”
The Steinway Youth Piano Competition is a biennial event organized by Steinway & Sons to identify, encourage, and pro- mote young pianists in the formative stages of their careers. The winner will represent Philippines in the regional round, joining seven other finalists from Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand who will compete to represent these Southeast Asian nations in the International Steinway Festival in Hamburg, Germany in September this year.
“The Steinway Youth Piano Competition is a holistic approach to the art of piano playing and it is a platform for young budding musicians to get together, foster friendship and share the joy of making music,” said Steinway Youth Piano Competition Chairperson Celine Goh. “There is, of course, competition pressure but the real reward is to be part of it, and to be part of a big family of young people who love to play the piano.”