Join with us as we present the extraordinary Ewa Pob³ocka, one of the most respected Chopin teachers and performers in recital for a beautiful evening of Chopin to formally open the 3rd Australian International Chopin Piano Competition 2017.

Tickets are available through Ticketek or from the competition's own website at www.aicpc.org.au

Professor Pob³ocka is joining the jury of the Competition as a representative of the prestigious National Institute of Fryderyk Chopin in Warsaw. Winner of Fifth Prize (equal) and the Polish Radio prize for the best performance of mazurkas in the 10th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1980). She studied with Zbigniew ¦liwiñski and Jerzy Sulikowski at the State College of Music in Gdañsk, graduating with honours in 1981.

She completed post-graduate studies with Conrad Hansen in Hamburg and benefitted from consultation with Jadwiga Sukiennicka, Rudolf Kerer, Tatiana Nikolaieva and Martha Argerich. She won First Prize in the International Viotti Music Competition in Vercelli (1977) and the gold medal in the International Festival of Young Laureates in Bordeaux (1979). She has performed throughout Europe and the Americas, as well as in China, Indonesia, RSA, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Australia. She is an accomplished chamber musician and has performed with the Silesian Quartet and the singers Jadwiga Rappé, Olga Pasichnyk and Ewa Podle¶. She has given numerous first performances and made world premiere recordings of works by Polish contemporary composers, including Andrzej Panufnik, Witold Lutos³awski (first Polish recording of the Piano Concerto with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the composer’s baton), Pawe³ Szymañski and Pawe³ Mykietyn.

She has worked with European radio stations and recorded more than forty discs, recently including Grieg’s complete piano works, solo works by Brahms and Schumann, the complete songs of Chopin and an album including Chopin mazurkas and the Sonata in C minor on period piano (Pleyel, 1848). She is a distinguished teacher. As well as teaching piano at Bydgoszcz Music Academy and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, she is also a guest teacher at the Geidai University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo and Nagoya. She has been a juror of many national and international piano competitions.

Youth Masterclass seeking aspiring young Canberra pianists

The 3rd Australian International Chopin Piano Competition 2017 and the ACT Keyboard Association, have great pleasure in announcing a Masterclass for students 18 and under, being held by Lucinda Collins (Head of Keyboard, Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide) and Anna Sleptsova (Head of Piano Studies, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts). Lucinda and Anna are appearing on the jury of the Competition and will be taking three students each for Masterclasses to be held on Sunday September the 17th from 9:30am to 12:30am at the ANU School of Music, just before the Grand Finals and Prize Winners Ceremony of the Competition.

Repertoire: Any work by Chopin or other 19th century composers.Level: AMEB Grade 7 and above

Please send a short biography, brief outline of your musical studies, proposed repertoire and contact information to Marie Cull, President of ACTKA. act.keyboardassociation@gmail.com by 6.00p.m. Sunday September the 3rd. The committee will notify applicants of its decisions by Friday September the 8th.

Tickets are now on sale for the 3rd Australian International Chopin Piano Competition 2017 through the competition website at https://www.aicpc.org.au/tickets. Ticketing is being provided by Ticketek, Eventbrite, and by the Friends of Chopin Australia (through Stripe).

Opening the Competition is a grand Gala concert by the incomparable Prof Ewa Pob³ocka from the prestigious National Institute of Fryderyk Chopin in Poland. Prof Pob³ocka will also be giving a public masterclass for three students during the Competition.

You can buy a season pass to the whole competition for $100 (gala concert and masterclass not included), or you can buy passes to individual rounds, or tickets to individual sessions.

Visit our competition page for all the latest information, including the biographies of all our competitors. www.aicpc.org.au

The Competition schedule:

Sun 10 Sep, 7pm Llewellyn Hall Gala Concert by Ewa Pob³ocka

Mon 11 Sep, 3pm to 7:30pm LSRR Round 1 - Competitors 1 to 8 (25min each)

Tues 12 Sep, 3pm to 7:30pm LSRR Round 1 - Competitors 9 to 16 (25min each)

Wed 13 Sep, 10am to 8pm LSRR Round 2 - Competitors 1 to 12 (35min each)

Thur 14 Sep, 10am to 1pm LSRR Round 2 - Competitors 13 to 16 (35min each)

Fri 15 Sep, 3pm to 8:30pm Llewellyn Hall Semi-Finals - Semi-Finalists 1 to 5 (55min each)

Sat 16 Sep, 10am to 1pm Llewellyn Hall Semi-Finals - Semi-Finalists 6 to 8 (55min each)

Sun 17 Sep, 1:30pm to 3:30pm Llewellyn Hall Finals - Finalists 1 to 3 Each finalist will perform one of Chopin's concertos with a string quintet accompaniment.

We are seeking expressions of interest from from those who may wish to volunteer during the competition, or be a host family for one of our amazing competitors during their stay in Canberra. As well as meeting a wonderful young pianist and experiencing the competition from the inside, host families receive two free passes to the entire competition, which includes the opening recital and the opening and closing receptions, as well as access to Friends areas during the Competition week. Email: vice-president@friendsofchopin.org.au

Our Competitors. We have some amazingly talented young musicians from 9 countries around the world, and they are all very excited to make their first trip to Canberra, with the exception of Shih-Wei Huang, who some of you may remember from our 2nd edition in 2014. A strong competitor and a wonderful musician, we're very excited to see her again. We are also very excited to announce that composer Chris Williams from Newcastle has won the Composition Competition with his piece 'Toccare'.

Our competitors are:
1. Timothy Chiang, Australia
2. Shaun Choo, Australia
3. Eduard Dyachenko, Russia
4. Pham Tra Mi Hoang, Vietnam
5. Shih-Wei Huang, China-Taipei
6. Konstantin Khachikyan, Russia
7. Sungpil Kim, United States
8. Tuomas Kyyhkynen, Finland
9. Joo Hyeon Park, Korea
10. Tetiana Shafran, Ukraine
11. Jiuming Shen, China
12. Yang Song, China
13. Micha³ Szymanowski, Poland
14. Shandee Teruya, United States
15. Alexander Yau, Australia
16. Man Chung Nicholas Young, Australia