Cooper Competition Field Narrows to 6 for July 20 Recital Finals

Two sessions of Concerto Round performances on Tuesday, July 19, concluded with the announcement of six Recital Finalists for the 2016 Cooper International Competition for piano.

Emerging from an initial field of 29 participants, the following young artists have advanced to compete in the Recital Finals at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, in Oberlin's Warner Concert Hall:

Evren Ozel
17, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Clayton Stephenson
17, New York, New York

Chaewon Kim
15, Suwon City, South Korea

Ryota Yamazaki
17, Koriyama, Japan

Nathan Lee
14, Sammamish, Washington

Andrew Li
16, Lexington, Massachusetts

Three performers will advance to the Concerto Finals at 7 p.m. Friday, July 22, at Severance Hall in Cleveland, where they will perform with The Cleveland Orchestra and vie for a $20,000 first prize.

Both the Recital Finals in Oberlin and the Concerto Finals in Cleveland will be broadcast live by Cleveland's classical music station, WCLV 104.9 FM Ideastream.

In addition, outstanding performers from the semifinal rounds will take part in an Honors Recital at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 21. All performances in Oberlin are free and take place in Warner Concert Hall.

Can't be there? Enjoy every Cooper Competition performance in Oberlin using Listen Live! at oberlin.edu.

The Concerto Finals, part of The Cleveland Orchestra's popular Summers@Severance series, begin at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets start at $25, and students under 18 are free with a paying adult. For more information, visit the Cleveland Orchestra website.

For live updates on the action, follow the Cooper Competition on Facebook. Learn more about the 2016 Cooper Competition at oberlin.edu.