Competition winner Mackenzie Melemed got an invitation to play the premiere of the new piano concerto by Korean composer Jeajoon Ryu. Melemed was invited by Ralf Gothóni.
Old News
American Mackenzie Melemed wins the Fourth Maj Lind Competition.
The absence of Dmitri Bashkirov, Chairman of the Jury, from the chamber music finals at the beginning of the performance by Jiyoung Kim will not affect the Jury’s voting in the final round.
The finalists of the Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition are Hannu Alasaarela (Finland), Jun Bouterey-Ishido (New Zealand), So Hyang In (South Korea), Jiyoung Kim (South Korea), Mackenzie Melemed (United States) and Hyo-Eun Park (South Korea).
Six competitors will continue in the finals of the Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition (17–31 August 2017) in Helsinki. They are Hannu Alasaarela (Finland), Jun Bouterey-Ishido (New Zealand), So Hyang In (South Korea), Jiyoung Kim (South Korea), Mackenzie Melemed (United States) and Hyo-Eun Park (South Korea).
The orchestral finals of the Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition will be transmitted live to the new media wall of the Helsinki Music Centre overlooking the Kansalaistori square. They will be the first event to be projected onto the media wall. The two orchestral finals will take place in the Music Centre Concert Hall …
Finals to be transmitted live to the Helsinki Music Centre media wall Read More »
Fourteen competitors will continue in the second round.
Summer is here at last, in both bright and vibrant green. My mind is filled with the scent of lilies-of-the-valley and piano music as I write this message from the Patroness of the Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition. Finland’s leading international piano competition is now about to begin at the Helsinki Music Centre. The …
Patroness of the Competition: A Piano Competition for all the Senses Read More »
Brand new Bösendorfer 280 Vienna Concert Grand Piano was brought into the Camerata Hall at the Helsinki Music Centre on Wednesday.
On behalf of the Competition Committee it is my pleasure to welcome our competitors, the members of the jury, and our audience both here in the hall and the media.
The first competitor to perform in the Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition (17–31 August 2017) is Tarmo Peltokoski (Finland). He will begin the first round at 10.00 on 18 August and be followed by Kausikan Rajeshkumar (Great Britain) and Victoria Audrey Sarasvathi (Indonesia). There are 37 competitors in all and ten first round sessions. 14 pianists will be selected to go through to the second round and their names will be announced after the last first-round performance on Tuesday evening, 22 August. The competition will be held at the Helsinki Music Centre.
The members of the jury – Dmitri Bashkirov, Janina Fialkowska, Alberto Nosè and Dina Yoffe – will hold a masterclass in connection with the competition on Mon 28 Aug at 12.15–18.45 and on Wed 30 Aug at 10–12. The masterclass will take place in the Camerata Hall at the Helsinki Music Centre.
Works composed specifically for the Maj Lind Piano Competition began to be heard in the 1980s. These included both piano concertos and little five-minute pieces. A big step forwards was taken in the finals when the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra took the stage instead of the student orchestras.
In the 1970s, the repertoire for the Maj Lind Piano Competition included some contemporary Finnish works. It became a longer event and from 1973 onwards was held at three-year intervals. The orchestral finals were first held at Finlandia Hall in 1979.
The eleventh competition brought the Maj Lind up to the 1960s. This time it was expanded into a national event and not confined to students at the Sibelius Academy.
United States
age 24
The Juilliard School 2015–2017
Columbia University 2011–2015
Italy
age 29
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome 2013–2016
Royal Academy of Music, London 2012–2014
Conservatorio di Musica Nino Rota, Monopoli 2003–2011
Spain
age 28
Escuela de Música Reina Sofía, Madrid 2014–2017
Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory, St. Petersburg 2010–2014
Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, Barcelona 2006–2010
United States
age 26
Texas Christian University 2014–2017
Yale School of Music 2012–2014
Eastman School of Music 2008–2012
Germany
age 25
Hochschule für Musik und Theater München 2015–
Hochschule für Musik Würzburg 2012–2015
Musikhochschule Freiburg 2011–2012
South Korea
age 29
École Normale de Musique de Paris 2012–2016
Universität Mozarteum Salzburg 2012–2013
Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris 2006–2010
South Korea
age 22
Kyung Hee University, College of Music, Seoul 2014–
Seoul Arts High School 2011–2014
South Korea
age 21
Seoul National University 2015–
Seoul Arts High School 2012–2015
Finland
age 28
Sibelius Academy 2009–2010, 2015–2016
Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin 2010–2015
Liszt Academy, Budapest 2013–2014
Sibelius Academy Youth Department 2003–2009
South Korea
age 25
Hochschule für Musik und Theater München 2015–
Seoul National University 2010–2014
Seoul Arts High School 2007–2010
Indonesia
age 22
Sibelius Academy 2016–
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore 2012–2016
Germany
age 24
Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln 2009–2017
Hochschule für Musik und Theater München 2013–2017
Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf 2003–2009
Israel
age 22
Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv University 2013–
Givatayim Conservatory, Israel 2008–2013
Canada
age 27
Université de Montréal 2016–
New England Conservatory, Boston 2014–2016
McGill University, Schulich School of Music, Montreal 2007–2011
Norway
age 29
Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin 2011–2016
Barratt Due musikkinstitutt, Oslo 2006–2010
Finland
age 23
Sibelius Academy 2014–
Oulunsalo Art School 2006–2013
The Maj Lind Piano Competition was still just a small-scale event in the 1950s, open only to students at the Sibelius Academy. After the sixth competition, it began being held every other year. The 1950s laureate is now in her 90s.
The second Maj Lind Piano Competition was held on October 25–26, 1946, exactly one year after the first. Seven pianists entered for the competition, which was won by Tapani Valsta.
Altogether 44 pianists have been selected for the Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition to be held in Helsinki, Finland on August 17–31, 2017. They represent 16 nationalities.
The very first competitor in the Maj Lind Piano Competition walked onto the platform in the concert hall of the Helsinki Conservatory (later the Sibelius Academy) at 11 am on Friday October 26, 1945. The address was Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9.
The Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition (August 17–31, 2017) has received 195 applications representing 39 nationalities. Not more than 40 pianists will be accepted for the first round on the basis of video recordings. The names of the successful applicants will be posted on the competition website by May 26 at the latest.
Maj Lind lived surrounded by different languages and cultures. She would undoubtedly have delighted in the medley of languages that the piano competition bearing her name will be bringing to the Helsinki Music Centre in August 2017.
Professor Erik T. Tawaststjerna has been invited to sit on the jury of the International Van Cliburn Piano Competition, United States.
Many a Finnish pianist has reason to thank Maj Lind. Few of us have met her, and even fewer actually knew her. She was born 141 years ago today.
Tickets for the Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition (August 17–31, 2017) are now on sale at Ticketmaster. The competition will be held at the Helsinki Music Centre. The names of the 40 successful applicants will be posted on the competition website by May 26 at the latest.
