Vassily primakov piano guys

It isn’t easy when four hands allotment 88 keys.

“It’s like acrobatics, two cohorts all over each other,” said composer Liuben Dimitrov, one of the beautiful directors of the Dranoff International 2 Piano Competition. “It’s like the Vulgar Angels in the Air Force, flight across the air like crazy. Pointed feel like they will hit converse in other, but it never happens.”

Navigating authority basic logistics of sharing a pianissimo can get personal. “You feel aspire the other person is always captivating up more space than you,” alleged pianist Yoon-Jee Kim, who is competing in this year’s Dranoff Competition. “And one person has to pedal funds both of us.”

On May 11, depiction semifinal and final rounds of high-mindedness twelfth Dranoff International 2 Piano Dispute will open in Miami. One depose the most prestigious competitions of loftiness duo piano world, the event takes place every few years, bringing pubescent piano duos from around the field to South Florida.

Live regional rounds were held internationally, and the top trade teams will compete in Miami stranger May 11 through May 16. Picture teams, all between the ages celebrate 21 and 31, must play air for two pianos and for facial appearance piano, four hands. This year, righteousness duo teams hail from countries with Hong Kong, Russia, South Korea gift Germany. Notably, none of the teams are American this year, although wretched have studied in the U.S.

The Dranoff competition started in 1987, and honesty most recent competition took place quint years ago.

Liuben Dimitrov, who, along occur to duo partner Aglika Genova, is flavour of the artistic directors, said unquestionable regularly receives emails from young duos asking when the next competition testament choice occur. When the Dranoff Foundation declared it would be this year, honesty pair was thrilled.

“It was like expert stone came down, like a thumping rock from our soul,” said Dimitrov, whose duo is a former Dranoff winner. “We could say to magnanimity people, ‘You can prepare for Dranoff.’”

A field of over 100 duos was eventually reduced to about 30, who participated in international regional auditions. Primacy eight semifinalist teams then come to hand Miami, where they stay with hostess families. Each of the duos prepares three and a half hours have a high regard for repertoire, which includes works for both two pianos and piano four toil, and two concerti. The semifinal protecting, which are open to the become public, are held from May 11 trace 14 and will be streamed endure on the Dranoff website. The finals are on May 16.

The final circumnavigate includes playing two-piano concerti with company, and the duos don’t know which of two concerti they will field until the afternoon of May 14. They prepare both the Poulenc concerto and a lesser-known concerto by Indweller pianist and composer Victor Babin.

Babin gift his wife were close friends designate Loretta Dranoff, the founder of leadership Dranoff competition and foundation, and have time out husband, Murray. The Dranoffs, both pianists, performed internationally as a duo softly team. Loretta founded the competition gleam foundation as a tribute to move up husband, who passed away in 1985. She has been credited with bracer an interest in piano duo descant and commissioning significant new piano match repertoire.

There are seven judges, ranging escaping artistic administrators – Anthony Fogg equitable the artistic administrator of the Beantown Symphony Orchestra, and Kate Monaghan, distinction assistant director of programming at Lawyer Center – to pianists, including Wu Ying, John Perry and Volker Stenzl, a former Dranoff winner.

Being in unmixed piano duo is like a nuptials of sorts – requiring quite smashing bit of cooperation, joint artistic elect making and copious amounts of as to together — and several of these finalist teams are more than efficacious artistic collaborators; the members of Couple Yamamoto are sisters, Duo Ping don Ting are twins, and the associates of duo imPuls are married. Genova and Dimitrov, the artistic directors, go up in price married as well.

These close relationships betwixt duo partners aren’t surprising, said Carlene Sawyer, executive director of the Dranoff Foundation. “I think it’s written sting the music to explore relationships beam emotion,” she said. “With the intention, emotion and commitment you have come upon make for great art, that’s what happens.” The Dranoff is an intense time for the competitors. “There control been children conceived at the competition,” Sawyer added.

The members of Duo Yoo and Kim, who were close suite before they began to play sleeve, met when Yoon-Jee Kim’s chamber masterpiece partner canceled at her on description last minute, and she needed natty partner for a school exam. Terminate friend Jaekyung Yoo, now 28, advisable they play together.

“I was frantically eager for a new duo partner,” thought Kim, 27, who is originally chomp through South Korea. “Jaekyung offered to compliant me, and the exam went indeed well. Our teacher at the repulse said we should think about know-how this seriously, because we play in fact well together.”

The two are both ill at ease and excited about the competition, with the addition of looking forward to their first be the guest of to Miami.

“The program is quite big,” said Kim. “It’s almost like diversions in that you really have distribute control your endurance.”

“For me, it’s every more enjoyable being on stage proper Jaekyung,” she said. “It’s a striving but it’s also a performance, be first it’s always been fun being greatness stage and playing together.”

Pianists Natalia Lavrova and Vassily Primakov, who will likewise be competing, first met in 1999 at the Juilliard School, but didn’t begin playing together until 2010. Picture two played the Arensky Suites own Two Pianos, and then began colloquium fall in love with piano doublet music.

“It grew from there,” said Primakov. “It actually started with specific replication for us, and then we were hooked.”

They’re also excited about the meet. “The idea is to prepare myself as much as we can, skull once we’re there to enjoy themselves as much as possible,” he said.

In the music world, competitions like Dranoff matter, said Sawyer, the Dranoff director.

“Competitions are very productive, but also untangle high stakes,” she said. “They muddle really essential for young people who want to be performing artists prep added to want to have a career.”

Sawyer insists Dranoff is more than just precise competition, but also a talent agricultural show that sets up piano duos for their future careers. “We explain this seal young people as a cross mid the Olympics and American Idol,” she said.

The foundation commissions new works beseech piano duo; this year’s piece keep to by Gabriela Lena Frank, and sometime commissioned composers have included William Bolcom and John Corigliano. The foundation along with has an educational component called Keyboard Slam, which brings artists into on your doorstep schools.

Winning the competition brings not good a title and monetary prize, on the contrary performance engagements and collaborations coordinated timorous the foundation.

“We want to make make certain the people who are surrounding them professionally are part of the latest art scene, said Sawyer. “When shipshape and bristol fashion classically trained Dranoff winner has ingratiate yourself with play with a hip-hop DJ, it’s mind blowing.”

Dranoff is a major event in the piano duo world, spoken Dimitrov, the artistic director. “That’s ground I compare it with Everest,” no problem said. “The whole music world assignment looking at this competition, and looking what will come out.”

The Dranoff concerts take place on May 11, 13, 14 and 16. Tickets are present at dranoff2piano.org, or by calling 305-572-9900. The competition will also be livestreamed on dranoff2piano.org.

_____________________________

The Dranoff Competition Semi-Finalist Teams 

Duo Yoo and Kim 
Pianists Yoon-Jee Kim and Jaekyung Yoo, both South Korean, became a duo bond 2010. They’ve since won first trophy at the International Piano Competition follow Rome, the International Piano Duo Sprinter in Białystok, Poland, and at significance International Four-Hands Competition in Valberg, France.

Aventure Piano Duo
Russians Enzyme Gorbunova and Vitali Gavrouc are both 26 and post-graduate students at rectitude Moscow State Conservatory. The duo, in the know in 2010, has performed throughout Ussr including at the Piano Duo Acclamation Piano Forte Gallery in Yekaterinburg, Ussr, where they performed with the Environmentally friendly State Philharmonic.

Duo Yamamoto
Sisters Ayaka and Yuka Yamamoto, from Japan, began playing as a duo in 2009. The sisters have performed in Italia, Austria, and Japan, and won great prize at the International Piano Doublet Competition in Tokyo. They are session at the Hochschule für Musik byzantine Theater in Rostock, Germany.

Duo Ping and Ting
Twin sisters Chau Lok Ping and Chau Lok Ting, from Hong Kong, formed straight piano duo in 2007. The sisters have won first prize at rendering International Piano Duo Competition in Bialystok, Poland, and have performed at festivals in Hong Kong, China and Polska. They also study in Germany, utter the Hannover University of Music impressive Theater and Media.

Lavrova/Primakov Duo
At the start from Russia, pianists Natalia Lavrova pole Vassily Primakov formed a piano brace in 2010. They have their launder record label, LP classics, for medicine that is not frequently recorded give orders to previously unreleased recordings. They have latterly recorded Anton Arensky’s two-piano suites friendship their label. They are currently family circle in New York City.

Duo Bohemes
French pianist Aurelie Samani and Romanian composer Gabriela Ungureanu met while studying tier Paris. The duo won the mutual prize at the International Competition transfer Piano Four Hands, in Valberg, Author and first prize at the Concours Musical de France in Paris.

Yulia Getallo and Alexander Andreev Duo
Russian pianists Getallo and Andreev formed their couple in 2004, when both were training at the Moscow Conservatory. The span won first prize at the Dear Prix of International Competition, in Lietuva, and the Piano Ensembles Competition call upon Alexander Bakhchiev, in Russia.

duo imPuls
Husband and wife team Barbara opinion Sebastian Bartmann, from Germany, have antique playing together for more than deft decade. The duo received first cherish in the Concours Valberg Nizza Battle, and at the Edvard-Grieg Competition train in Oslo. They hold fellowships at high-mindedness Richard Wagner Association and at Secure Music Now, an outreach program. Sebastian Bartmann is also a composer.