Announcing the 9th International Web Concert Hall Competition

We are delighted to announce the results of the 9^th International Web Concert Hall Competition held in the United States from mid September to October 8th. The competition was opened to all nationalities without restrictions in their ages for all orchestral instrumentalists and chamber ensembles. 72 applications were received from the USA, Russia, Canada, Poland, Singapore, Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Spain, Greece, Italy, Belarus, and Ukraine. From 72 participants, 48 were solo instrumentalists and 24 ensembles; 23 semi-finalists were chosen and 18 were chosen for the finals. The competition was articulated in three rounds: the 1^st (eliminatory), the 2^nd (semi-final) and the 3^rd (final).

The 9th International Web Concert Hall competition concluded with the selection of eight honorary mention award recipients. Eight Honorary Mentions were given to the following performers (alphabetical order):

Adam Aleksander (Piano – Canada / Poland)
Alexander Bedenko (Clarinet – Ukraine)
Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann Piano Duo (Canada)
Brown/England Piano Duo (USA)
Yoonjung Han (Piano – Korea)
Jing-I Jang (Harp – Taiwan)
Tatiana Larionova (Piano – Russia)
De Stefano Piano Duo (Italy)

Unlike other competitions, WCH competition does not offer monetary awards. Instead, the goal is to promote and advance the careers of gifted artists globally by broadcasting the performance of winners on the Web Concert Hall for next few years and promoting and extending the exposure to various managers and professional organization in the US and abroad by acknowledging the Web performances. In addition, the website offers each winner and honorary mention recipient a rare opportunity to capture their thoughts and musical experiences through interviews and share with the public. Such information being available to the public has promoted the classical concert experiences throughout the world, such as in high-schools and community colleges where they have no access to classical concerts due to their geographical location, therefore, providing readily available access to hear and read about each performing artists. The next competition will take place in the fall of 2008. The Web Concert Hall is the first of its kind in classical music to hold such events at the global level taking advantage of such communications technology for the last nine consecutive years. For more information, email: webconcerthall@usa.com

The finalists of 9th International Web Concert Hall Competition

(Alphabetical)

Agirre, Irantzu (Harp - Spain)
Aleksander, Adam (Piano – Canada / Poland)
Bedenko, Alexander(Clarinet – Ukraine)
Bergmann, Elizabeth and Marcel Piano Duo (Canada)
Brown/England Piano Duo (USA)
Cabassi, Davide (Piano – Italy)
Chung, “Rachel” Hyunjung(Piano – Korea)
De Stefano Piano duo (Italy)
Han, Yoonjung (Piano – Korea)
Hobbins, Alan (Piano – Canada)
Jang, Jing-I (Harp – Taiwan)
Larionova, Tatiana(Piano – Russia)
Rodriguez-Rios, Lizary (Harp – USA)
Tkaczewski, Krystian (Piano – Poland)
Toyoda, Aiko (Piano – Japan)
Tripod Trio (USA / Japan)
Wu, Angela Yun-Yin (Piano – USA)
Alexander Zababurkin and Mixim Shatalkin (Cello – Piano Duo – Russia)

A Brief Background of the Finalists

Yoonjung Han (Piano – Korea)
Training: The Curtis Institute of Music (BM); Juilliard (MM);

Alan Hobbins (Piano – Canada)
Training: The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (Graduate Artist Diploma); Juilliard (MM);

Tatiana Larionova (Piano – Russia)
Training: Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory; Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory; Park University International Center for Music;

Adam Aleksander (Piano – Canada / Poland)
Training: Chopin Academy of Music, Warsaw, Poland; Cleveland Institute of Music; University of Southern California;

Aiko Toyoda (Piano – Japan)
Training: Musashino Academia Musicae, Tokyo (BM); Juilliard (MM);

Davide Cabassi (Piano – Italy)
Training: Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, Milan; International Piano Foundation, Cadenabbia (Lake Como), Italy;

Krystian Tkaczewski (Piano – Poland)
Training: University of Hartford (DMA); Paderewski Music School, Poland; Chopin Music College, Poland;

“Rachel” Hyunjung Chung (Piano – Korea)
Training: Rutgers University (DMA); Mannes College of Music (MM); Seoul National University (BA);

Angela Yun-Yin Wu (Piano – USA)
Training: University of Michigan (DMA and MM); National Taiwan Normal University (BA);

Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann Piano Duo (Canada)
Training: Marcel Bergmann - Hochschule fur Musik und Theater, Hannover, Germany (MM and DMA); Elizabeth Bergmann - Hochschule fur Musik und Theater, Hannover, Germany (MM and DMA); University of Toronto (MM); University of Alberta, Canada (BM);

Brown/England Piano Duo (USA)
Training: Lenora - University of Utah (BA);
Gaye - University of Utah (BA and MM);

De Stefano Piano duo (Italy)
Training: International Piano Academy of Imola

Alexander Zababurkin and Mixim Shatalkin (Cello – Piano Duo – Russia)
Training: Zababurkin - Moscow Conservatory; Tchaikovsky State Conservatory;
Shatalkin - Moscow Conservatory; Tchaikovsky State Conservatory; Tver Music College

Alexander Bedenko (Clarinet – Ukraine)
Training: The Kharkov Music School; The Curtis Institute of Music;

Irantzu Agirre (Harp - Spain)
Training: Juilliard (BM; MM); New York University;

Jing-I Jang (Harp – Taiwan)
Training: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (DMA - in progress; MM; MM;); National Taiwan Normal University (BA);

Lizary Rodriguez-Rios (Harp – USA)
Training: University of Arizona (DMA); Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid; University of Arizona (MM); Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico (BM);

Tripod Trio (USA / Japan)
Training:
Suzuki - Musashino Academia Musicae, Tokyo (BM); Webster University(MM) Peabody Conservatory (DMA); Schwarz - Cincinnati Conservatory (BM); Peabody Conservatory (MM) Temple University (DMA); Pasbrig - Peabody Conservatory (BA): Temple University (MM and DMA).

Semi Finalists of 2007 WCH International Competition

• Yoonjung Han (Piano – Korea)
• Alan Hobbins (Piano – Canada)
• Tatiana Larionova (Piano – Russia)
• Sutini Goh (Piano - Singapore)
• Aiko Toyoda (Piano – Japan)
• Adam Aleksander (Piano – Canada / Poland)
• Krystian Tkaczewski (Piano – Poland)
• Davide Cabassi (Piano – Italy)
• Angela Yun-Yin   Wu (Piano – USA)
• “Rachel” Hyunjung Chung (Piano – Korea)
• Jing-I Jang (Harp – Taiwan)
• Lizary Rodriguez-Rios (Harp – USA)
• Irantzu Agirre (Harp – Spain)
• Alexander Zababurkin and Mixim Shatalkin (Cello – Piano Duo – Russia)
• Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann Piano Duo (Canada)
• Christos Sakellaridis (Piano Duo – Greece)
• Brown/England Piano Duo (USA)
• De Stefano Piano duo (Italy)
• Luba Benediktovitch (Flute – Belarus)
• Alexander Bedenko (Clarinet – Ukraine)
• Georgiy Borisov (Clarinet – Russia)
• Tripod Trio (USA / Japan)
• Kyung Taek Kim (percussion – Korea)