Musical talents in concert
Five finalists from the 5th Thailand International Piano Competition (TIPC) will be performing with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO) in the final concert at Mahidol University’s Prince Mahidol Hall, Salaya campus, on Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 4pm.
Organised by the Piano Department at the College of Music, Mahidol University, the competition saw 22 hopefuls, aged 15-28 years, from 10 countries competing for money, recognition and a chance to perform with one of the region’s most esteemed orchestras. After the first round on Monday and Tuesday, ten successful candidates will be competing in the semi-final round scheduled for today.
Only five of them will be picked to impress a panel of judges and the audience by performing a chosen concerto with the TPO under the baton of guest conductor Thanapol Setabrahmana. Three finalists will perform on Friday and the other two on Saturday.
The selected pieces are: Mozart’s Concerto No.20 In D Minor, Beethoven’s Concerto No.4 in G Major, Chopin’s Concerto No.2 in F Minor, Schumann’s Concerto In A Minor and Mendelssohn’s Concerto No.1 In G Minor.
This year’s judge panel includes Thai pianist Korak Lertpibulchai, American pianist Sean Chen, piano professor Dr Peter Amstutz, Russian pianist Alexey Lebedev and Filipino pianist Albert Tiu.
The competition offers over 1 million baht in prizes. The first-prize winner will receive 200,000 baht plus a grand piano, while the second-, third-, fourth- and fifthprize winners will be awarded 100,000, 70,000, 40,000 and 25,000 baht.
Tickets for each show cost 400, 600, 800, 1,000 and 1,500 baht (half-prices for students) and can be purchased from Thai Ticket Major (visit thaiticketmajor.com or call 02-262-3456) and PMH Box Office on the concert day (call 062-526-6645 or 02-8496565/6 ext 6603/4 and 6624).