Musical Destinations
The Midwestern city famous for its auto racing is also host to one of the world’s top piano competitions, as David Lindquist reports
David Linquist visits Indianapolis
Competition is intertwined with Indianapolis, the Midwestern US city where an iconic 500-mile auto race has attracted crowds for more than a century. And although Béla Bartók is credited with the quote, ‘Competitions are for horses, not artists’, Indianapolis serves as home to high-profile contests that reveal ascending virtuosos on piano and violin.
The International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, staged every four years, will showcase musicians ranging in age from 16-29 in September 2022. The American Pianists Association gathers the top US classical and jazz artists ages 18-30 for alternating competitions presented every two years. Five classical finalists will perform in front of live audiences when the 2021 American Pianists Awards culminate in June.
Joel Harrison, president and CEO of the American Pianists Association since 2008, revels in each competition cycle. He recalls being asked at the conclusion of one awards season, ‘Aren’t you happy it’s finally over?’ ‘I said, “No, are you kidding? This is why we exist.” ’ Similar to organisations around the globe, the
Indianapolis-based association altered plans and scrambled to persevere during the coronavirus pandemic. To assist the five classical finalists confronted with months of cancelled concert appearances, the association awarded each musician a cash prize of $50,000 – an amount traditionally reserved for the overall winner, who also receives two years of career assistance and a recording contract. ‘These pianists are no different than any other artist floating around the world in the middle of this pandemic,’ Harrison says. ‘They were out of work.’
The finalists, a group boasting past prize winners at competitions in Russia, China, Poland and Austria, are coming to Indiana, home state of two popular 20th-century pianists – the ‘Anything Goes’ songwriter Cole Porter and ‘Stardust’ songwriter Hoagy Carmichael are celebrated at the Great American Songbook Foundation Exhibit Gallery just north of Indianapolis in suburban Carmel. The gallery is found at The Center for the Performing Arts’ Palladium, a ten-year-old venue inspired by La Rotonda, a Renaissance villa in northern Italy. Contemporary vocalist and pianist Michael Feinstein founded the Great American Songbook Foundation in 2007, and he serves as artistic director for The Center for the Performing Arts.
The American Pianists Awards’ roster of concert halls includes the Hilbert Circle Theatre, a neoclassical former cinema that opened in 1916 on Monument Circle in the heart of Downtown Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, presently led by Polish conductor
Krzysztof Urba ski, has performed there since 1984. Another gem of local architecture, the Madam Walker Legacy Center, is found less than a mile-anda-half northwest of Monument Circle. Planned by haircare entrepreneur Madam CJ Walker (1867-1919), the Art Deco building incorporates Africa-inspired ornamentation and has been the site of performances by Sonny Rollins, the Staple Singers and Indianapolis native Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds. Following World
War II, the Walker anchored an Indiana Avenue jazz scene that produced esteemed musicians Wes Montgomery, Freddie Hubbard and JJ Johnson.
Walkability is a point of pride for the city, where the Indianapolis Cultural Trail offers eight miles of exploration amid Downtown attractions. One spot along the trail is the Rhythm! Discovery Center, which bills itself as the world’s only interactive drum and percussion museum. Through 2021, the museum is welcoming visitors interested in seeing prized artefacts from Beatles history – on display is the Ludwig drum kit used by Ringo Starr from May 1963 until the Fab Four appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, plus the distinctive bass drum head used during that historic TV appearance. Indianapolis residents still talk about The Beatles’ two performances at the 1964 Indiana State Fair, a tour stop that exemplified the power of live music.
The thirst for live music is one shared by the performers. After months of showing their talents to viewers across internet connections, American Pianists Awards finalists Kenny Broberg, Dominic Cheli, Michael Davidman, Sahun Sam Hong and Mackenzie Melemed are all too eager to be once again in the same room as their audience. Harrison, head of the American Pianists Association, expresses similar enthusiasm. ‘There’s no substitute for the performance; none,’ he says. ‘At least not for me. Being able to hear it live by these pianists and others is thrilling.’
Further info: The American Pianists Awards classical finals take place
25-27 June; see
Through 2021, the Rhythm! Discovery Center displays prized Beatles artefacts