Young Ohio pianists from Amherst, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Elyria, New Albany, Solon, and Pepper Pike are among the more than 30 young musicians from cities throughout the United States, Canada, China, and Korea participating in the 11th annual Oberlin International Piano Competition and Festival, sponsored by the Conservatory. The weeklong event will take place Sunday, July 24, through Sunday, July 31, 2005, with the finals round, where up to six cash prizes are awarded, being held in Warner Concert Hall Saturday, July 30, at 8 p.m.

Free and open to the public, the finals round will be broadcast live on 104.9 FM WCLV, Cleveland's classical music radio station, thanks to the sponsorship of the Riverside Company, a leading private equity firm specializing in premier companies. Robert Conrad, co-founder and president of WCLV, will serve as the master of ceremonies; Jacqueline Gerber, the host of WCLV's morning show First Program, will be the on-air host. Audience members will be invited to vote for their favorite performer.

The participants from Ohio are Corey Knick, 16, of Amherst; Katie Florez, 13, of Cincinnati; Katherine Bi, 17, of Cleveland; Sean Wilkins, 17, of Elyria; Michelle Zhuravlev, 17, of New Albany, Jeremy Paul, 13, of Solon, and two sisters from Pepper Pike, Katrina and Emma Bobbs, ages 16 and 13.

The competition is for pianists between the ages of 13 and 18; those accepted were chosen following a preliminary taped audition round. Of the pianists who traveled to Oberlin to compete, 12 to 16 will be selected from a first performance round and will advance to the third round of competition. Up to six pianists remaining after the third round will perform in the competition finals.

Oberlin Professor of Piano Robert Shannon has directed the competition and festival since its inception. Interviewed last year by the Morning Journal (Lorain, Ohio), he defined the purpose of the event: “We want to stimulate interest in young pianists and give them something to shoot for. We combine [the competition] with an educational program. We try to give them a taste of what studying music at a high level in college is like.”

The festival faculty — composed of renowned professors from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and distinguished guest artists — will offer private lessons, master classes, recitals, and lectures throughout the week that will provide the festival participants with intensive and in-depth opportunities to expand their knowledge of music history, theory, and pedagogy, as well as the vital connection of those three elements to on-stage performance.

Guest judges for the final round of the competition and guest faculty for the festival are Professor Matti Raekallio of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland and Assistant Professor of Music Mykola Suk from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.

Associate Professor of Piano Alvin Chow and Professor of Piano Sanford Margolis of Oberlin’s faculty will join them in their final deliberations, and they will award cash prizes ranging from $4,000 to $100. In addition, audience members attending the finals concert will cast their vote for the “Audience Favorite,” which carries a cash prize of $100.

More information about the competition and festival is available by calling Assistant to the Dean of the Conservatory Anna Hoffmann at 440-775-8044 or by visiting www.oberlin.edu/con/summer/piano.

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, founded in 1865 and situated within the intellectual vitality of Oberlin College since 1867, is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States. Renowned internationally as a professional music school of the highest caliber and pronounced a “national treasure” by the Washington Post, Oberlin’s alumni have gone on to achieve illustrious careers in all aspects of the serious music world. Its students and alumni have won top prizes in numerous international piano competitions, including the Van Cliburn, the Fryderyk Chopin, the Queen Elisabeth, the Arthur Rubinstein, the Walter W. Naumberg, the Unisa International Piano Competition (South Africa), the American Pianists Association Classical Fellowship competition, the World Piano Competition, the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition, and the Busoni Competition. The Conservatory’s collection of 1,700 period and modern musical instruments includes 199 Steinway grand pianos. Oberlin, an All-Steinway School, is Steinway & Sons’ oldest continuous client, with a relationship dating back more than 125 years.

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