| The 9th International Piano Competition in Sydney was brought to the end on 2 August 2008. There were thirty six young participants. All contenders were well prepared, especially in technical terms. Therefore, the jury was faced with a difficult task. There were five stages. Nominations in the first and second stages were done jointly. Twenty pianists were admitted to the third stage, twelve to the fourth and only six to the fifth one.
The top winner was Konstantin Shamray from Novosybirsk in Russia who was bestowed with the 1st Prize of $25,000 donated by the Council of City of Sydney. Also from Russia came Tatiana Kolesowa, the winner of the 2nd Prize of $ 12,000 donated by Yamaha Music Australia Pty Limited.
Ran Dang from Israel was the winner of 3rd Prize of $ 6,000 donated by Theme and Variations. Takashi Sato from Japan won the 4th Prize of $4,000 donated by Phillip Rove. Tomoki Kitamura from Japan won the 5th Prize of $ 2,500 donated by Hunt and Hunt. Eric Zuber from USA won the 6th Prize of $ 2,500 donated by Neville Grace.
Twenty seven other prizes were also awarded. Hoang Pfam of Vietnamese extraction, received the Prize as the Best Australian Pianist that was donated by the Friends of the Sydney International Piano Competition. Prize for the best performance of Chopin’s music went again to Takashi Sato from Japan. The Music Teachers’ Association of NSW donated a prize to a young female pianist from Italy, Mariangelo Vacatello. The laureates now have good prospects to perform all over the world.
The Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia is considered to be one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world. It is organised every four years in Sydney, under the auspices of the Cladan Cultural Exchange Institute of Australia, in association with the University of Sydney and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
From AIRI | 
