The Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition Israel will celebrate its Bar Mitzvah year, with the 13th edition of the competition taking place from May 10 – 26, 2011. The traditional ballot determining the order of appearance in the competition will take place on May 10th at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art at 18:00, the event is open to the public, free of charge.
The gala opening concert will take place on May 10, 2011 at 21:00. Roman Rabinovich, Ching-Yun Hu and Khatia Buniatishvili, the winners of the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition will perform with the Israel Camerata Jerusalem conducted by Avner Biron. The full concert program and listings of other special events can be found on the competition site.
Artistic director Idith Zvi says, “This is not only a competition, it is a true celebration in which the competitors, jurors, volunteers, and the thousands of people attending the competition come together as one family – vibrant and active, following the competition’s progress with interest and curiosity from the first day until the closing ceremonies three weeks after.”
37 pianists were accepted from 173 applicants, this year’s cohort consists of 9 women and 28 men from 16 countries, including: Morocco, Russia, New Zealand, China, The United States, Ukraine, Japan, Canada, Korea, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Georgia, France, Belgium, Greece and Israel. The three Israeli competitors are: Michael Bukhman, Boris Giltburg and Berenika Glixman.
Founded in 1974 by Jan Jacob Bistritzky, the internationally respected competition takes place once every three years. Arthur Rubinstein was a judge in the first two editions of the competition. Pianists from all over the world, aged 18 – 32 are eligible to compete. The three week competition has three stages:
Stage 1 – Solo piano recitals, each competitor performs 40 – 50 minute program at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, May 11 – 16. An announcement of those selected to continue to the next stage will be made on May 16th.
Stage II – Solo piano recitals, each of the selected 16 competitors performs a 50 – 60 minute program at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, May 17 – 19. An announcement of the 6 finalists will be made on May 19th.
Finals – Chamber Music: each of the 6 finalists performs a piano quintet with the Ariel String Quartet at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, May 20th at 14:00 and May 21st at 11:00.
Finals – Concerti A: each of the 6 finalists plays a classical concerto with the Israel Camerata Jerusalem conducted by Avner Biron, at the Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv, May 22nd at 20:30, May 23rd at 20:30.
Finals – Concerti B: each of the 6 finalists plays one Romantic or 20th century concerto with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch at the Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv, May 25th at 20:30, May 26th at 19:30. The winners will be announced on May, 26, 2011.
Tickets for all the events may be purchased through Castel, call: 03-6045000 or *8965, or order online at www.TKTS.co.il.
The Arthur Rubinstein Society aims to foster Israeli music, and since its inception in 1973 has commissioned works by Israeli composers which are premiered in the International Piano Master Competitions. This year, rather than commissioning new works, it was decided to honor the memory of two Israeli composers, founding fathers of Israeli music, whose works have never been performed in the competition: Paul Ben Haim (1897 – 1984) and Josef Tal (1910 – 2008). The competitors may choose to play one movement or more of the following works: Paul Ben Haim – Five pieces for Piano, op. 34 or Josef Tal – Sonata for Piano (1950).
The International Jury: Arie Vardi, Chairman, Israel; Cécile Ousset, France; Yefim Bronfman, Israel/US; Dmitri Bashkirov, Russia; Bernd Goetzke, Germany; Andrzej Jasinski, Poland; Robert Levin, US; Hiroko Nakamura, Japan; Ian Fountain, UK; Peter Frankl, UK/Hungary; Yocheved Kaplinsky, Israel/US; Alexander Tamir, Israel.
The Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition is organized by the Arthur Rubinstein International Music Society under the auspices of the Tel Aviv –Yafo Municipality Arts Department of the Arts and Culture Division and the Ministry of Culture and Sport, in cooperation with The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; The Israel Camerata Jerusalem; The Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Israel Broadcast Authority, Channel 1, Voice of Music; MEZZO; and Haaretz.
Chairman of the Arthur Rubinstein International Music Society is Adv. Gad Naschitz; Chairman of the Board is Ariel Cohen; Prof. Arie Vardi is Music Advisor and Chairman of the Jury; and Idith Zvi is the Artistic Director of the competition.
