The results of the Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition (17–31 August 2017) are:
I First Prize (€30,000): Mackenzie Melemed (United States)
II Second Prize (€25,000): Jun Bouterey-Ishido (New Zealand)
III Third Prize (€20,000): Jiyoung Kim (South Korea)
The other three finalists will each receive a finalist prize of €8,000: Hannu Alasaarela (Finland), So Hyang In (South Korea), and Hyo-Eun Park (South Korea).
Special Prizes:
Chamber Music Prize (€8,000): Mackenzie Melemed (United States)
The Best Performance of the Commissioned Work (€1,500): Hannu Alasaarela (Finland)
Steinway Piano Gallery Helsinki and Finnish Chopin Society Special Prize (€1,000), shared prize: Peter Klimo (United States) (€500) and Viviana Pia Lasaracina (Italy) (€500).
Yle Prize:
The most successful Finnish competitor will get an invitation to make a recording for the Finnish Broadcasting Company: Hannu Alasaarela (Finland)
The winner of the competition will perform a piano recital at the PianoEspoo festival on 9 November 2017.
The competition jury made the decision after the orchestral finals on Thursday 31 August. The jury has eight members: Dmitri Bashkirov (chairman), Dang Thai Son, Janina Fialkowska, Ralf Gothóni, Ewa Kupiec, Alberto Nosè, Roland Pöntinen and Dina Yoffe.
The work commissioned for the competition – Arabesques et adages – is composed by Kaija Saariaho and was an elective work in the second round.
Altogether 37 pianists played in the first-round. The competition received a record 195 applications by the deadline on 24 April. The participants in the first round were selected by a competition team on the basis of video recordings. The competition is open to pianists the world over born in or after 1987, regardless of nationality.
The competition is being organised by the University of the Arts Helsinki, the Sibelius Academy, and financed by the Sibelius Academy Foundation out of the Maj Lind Fund. Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster.
The Fifth International Maj Lind Piano Competition will be held in 2022.
