On July 25, the 2012 Jacob Flier Piano Competition, centerpiece of the annual PianoSummer at SUNY-New Paltz celebrations, completed its final round. This year, 19-year-old Hidemi Minagura of Japan took first-place honors in the highly competitive international search for up-and-coming young keyboard masters. Ju Young Park, 22, of South Korea came in second. In an unusual decision for the contest, no third-place award was conferred this year.
The brass ring for winning each year’s Flier Competition is a chance to demonstrate your piano-playing chops in front of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, conducted by Vladimir Feltsman, in the Symphony Gala concert that brings PianoSummer to a close. This year’s PianoSummer Symphony Gala will take place on Friday, August 3 at 8 p.m. at McKenna Theatre on the SUNY-New Paltz campus. The Philharmonic will perform Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, Ives’s Unanswered Question and Schubert’s Symphony #8, “Unfinished,” as well as backing the new champion Minagura as she plays a piano concerto yet to be announced.
First-, second- and third-place winners of the Jacob Flier Piano Competition are typically invited back to participate in the following year’s PianoSummer Institute and give solo recitals; but this Friday is your prime chance to catch this rising star before she becomes too famous for her concerts to be affordable. Tickets to the Symphony Gala concert cost $34 to $39, and there were only about 50 seats left as of presstime, so visit www.newpaltz.edu/piano/schedule.html now to get yours.
McKenna Theatre at SUNY-New Paltz will host the 2012 PianoSummer Symphony Gala concert at 8 p.m. on Friday, August 3, spotlighting 2012 Jacob Flier Piano Competition winner Hidemi Minagura. Vladimir Feltsman will conduct the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Tickets cost $34 to $39 and can be ordered online at www.newpaltz.edu/piano/schedule.html or by calling (845) 257-3936.
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