Hilton Head IPC

Very proud of Zhonghua for taking first prize at the most recent Hilton Head IPC for Young Artists. He also got the Peter Takacs prize for best Classical Sonata. It was his first international competition outside of China, his first trip to the USA, and his first time leaving the country since Covid. All in all, a wonderful experience. Special thanks to our host Barbara Sorkin and the fantastic organization behind HHIPC, Steve and the team! And now some musings …

Zhonghua’s first round from Hilton Head: Two Prelude and Fugues, one Baroque and one composed after 1950, and Brahms Paganini book one. FYI, the Brahms is relatively new (learned November last year) and immediately following his live recording of it for Cleveland semis, we discussed playing the Brahms a bit more conservatively, since Hilton Head generously allows all contestants to play two complete solo rounds before the jury makes a decision on finalists, just to get a more objective feel for the piano and the space in preparation for the challenging second round. So, this is Zhonghua's slightly reserved Brahms.

For the semis ... we were mulling over which sonata to play for the complete Classical sonata requirement, Zhonghua actually had Mozart 576 fresh in his fingers having recorded it for his Cleveland audition video, but D major is a tricky key for sturm und drang teenage boys, so we considered dusting off 457 which he had performed several times four years ago and appeared to be a relatively safe choice, however after giving it a whirl, we decided the third movement was too problematic and eventually just opted to learn something new that would also be beneficial to his overall development, hence Ludwig.

Opus 27#1 is a sonata with sentimental history for me because it was the first sonata assigned by my dear teacher Nancy Weems when I was a college freshman 126 years ago, having just started with Nancy after studies with the incomparable John Weems. Due to my own performance schedule, I didn't see Zhonghua for much of January and by the time we got around to serious lessons in February I remember thinking "", which upon further reflection was probably what Mrs. Weems thought 126 years ago, but Zhonghua worked very hard and we're very grateful to the jury for awarding him the Peter Takács prize for best Classical sonata -- hopefully he will go on to be a fantastic Beethoven pianist just like this generous award's namesake.

On the flight back afterward, I asked Zhonghua what was the most difficult work of the competition and he responded without hesitation, "Beethoven." I also asked him which work he was least satisfied with and he responded, again, without hesitation, "Bach-Hess", and finally, of course, I asked which performance he was most pleased with to which he responded, "Medtner." So here's Zhonghua's 2nd Round: Least Satisfied, Most Difficult, and Most Pleasurable ...