At the 8th Sendai International Music Competition (Piano Section) recently held in mid-June 2022 in Sendai City, Japan, all six finalists chose to perform on the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano.
Recurring every three years since 2001, the Sendai International Music Competition has evolved to become one of the most prestigious international piano competitions in Japan. At this year’s event, each of the six finalists played two piano concertos with the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra. In those performances 10 of 12 pieces were played on the magnificent Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano. The top three prize winners, LUO Jiaqing, Jonas AUMILLER and OTA Shion all selected the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX throughout each round of the competition.
Kawai has consistently provided the Sendai International Music Competition with concert-level instruments for official selection since the very first event in 2001. In 2003 four out of the six finalists in the 2nd competition selected Kawai. At the 4th competition held in 2010, Marianna Prjevalskaya earned the 3rd prize, while at the 6th edition held in 2016, Evan Wong was awarded the 2nd prize. Both pianists selected the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano on which to perform their prize-winning performances.
The Shigeru Kawai SK-EX full concert grand piano
The flagship instrument of the Shigeru Kawai line, the SK-EX concert grand piano debuted in 2001. It is hand-crafted in limited numbers following a unique ‘prototyping’ creation process. A variety of carefully selected raw materials are utilized in order to provide the supreme range of expression required in a concert piano. In addition to premium aged spruce soundboards, the Shigeru Kawai instruments adopt the advanced Millennium III keyboard action, featuring extended wooden keys and advanced ABS-Carbon action parts, providing superior speed and more responsiveness than conventional wooden action parts, allowing pianists to express a greater range of feeling and emotion in their performance.
The Sendai International Music Competition
The Sendai International Music Competition was established by the City of Sendai in 2001 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the city. The competition is held every three years and emphasizes the importance of the concerto, with contestants performing along with a full orchestra in both the semi-final and final rounds.
2022 – 8th Sendai International Music Competition (Piano Section): Final Round Result
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1st Prize Mozart – Piano Concerto in C major, K503 Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor, op.16 |
2nd Prize Beethoven – Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, op.37 Brahms – Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor, op.15 |
3rd Prize Mozart – Piano Concerto in C minor, K491 Prokofiev – Piano Concerto No.3 in C major, op.26 |
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4th Prize Beethoven – Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, op.37 Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, op.30
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5th Prize Mozart – Piano Concerto in D minor, K466 Beethoven – Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major, op.73 “Emperor” |
6th Prize Beethoven – Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, op.37 Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor, op.23 |
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Special Jury Prize Mozart – Piano Concerto in F major, K459 (Semifinal Round) |
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Official Sendai International Music Competition WebSite: https://simc.jp/en/
Link to performance videos: https://simc.jp/en/8th_competition/movie/