2017 Youth Piano Competition
April 12, 2017
Eleventh Annual Paderewski Youth Piano Competition Announced
from San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Barbara & Fresno Counties.
Paso Robles, CA. The Board of Directors of the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles invite piano teachers in California's Central Coast counties of San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Barbara, plus Fresno County, to encourage their talented young pianists to submit applications for the Festival's 2017 Youth Piano Competition.
The competition is open to piano students in two age groups: Juniors (ages 10-14) and Seniors (ages 15-18). All competitors must currently study with an established piano teacher and reside within the counties of San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Barbara or Fresno. Professional pianists may not apply. Youth Piano Competition applications are available on the Festival’s website www.paderewskifest.com.
The Competition Jury will be headed by pianist and composer Marek Zebrowski, Director of the Polish Music Center at the University of Southern California and Artistic Director of the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles, India D'Avignon from the Music Department at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, and prominent Polish composer, professor of composition at Kraków Music Academy and Dean of Polish Composers’ Association/Kraków Chapter, Marcel Chyrzyński. Awards will be made at the discretion of the Jury, whose verdict shall be final.
All participants in the 2017 auditions will receive a certificate. Prizes ranging from $200-$750 will be awarded to the best performers, and winners will be invited to perform during the 2017 Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles. Marek Zebrowski will also provide performers with personal coaching prior to their performance.
Selected winners may also apply to travel to Poland in summer of 2019 under the Paderewski Festival Youth Exchange Program, administered and sponsored jointly by the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles and the Province of Tarnów in Poland. This all-expenses-paid program includes piano workshops, master classes and concert performances at Kąśna Dolna, Paderewski's estate in southern Poland, at the historic Jagiellonian University in Kraków, and at other venues in late June and early July.
The 2017 Youth Competition Winners' Recital will be held in the Paso Robles Inn Ballroom on Saturday, November 4, 2017 at 4 p.m. Admission to this event is free and open to the public.
The Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles is a non-profit that sponsors an annual series of concerts featuring internationally acclaimed artists, the Paderewski Festival Youth Piano Competition and Exchange Program, and other Paderewski-themed events. The 2017 Festival will be held November 2-5.
For questions or additional Paderewski Festival Youth Piano Competition information, please contact Mechelle Medhurst, Piano Competition Coordinator, at youth@paderewskifest.com or call 805-235-1530.
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