First-place winner of the Claudette Piano Competition Anna Bray performs on the Steinway & Sons grand piano in Rosch Recital Hall.
Anna Bray, of Sterling, VA, who was among seven finalists from across the United States and Canada, performed an all-Rachmaninoff program to win the top prize of $4,000 at the 8th Claudette Sorel Piano Competition held on Nov. 5 at SUNY Fredonia’s School of Music.
Each finalist presented a unique 25-minute program of works they selected specifically for the competition. The jury noted its appreciation for Ms. Bray’s choice of an all-Rachmaninoff program to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birthday. Bray, 16, is a student of Alexander Shtarkman.
Outstanding Program awards were presented to Cecilia Thendean, 15, of Pleasanton, CA, who performed works by Liszt, Liebermann and Prokofiev, and David Fu, 15, of Delmar, NY, who performed works by Brahms, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Friedman and Horowitz. Both musicians were awarded $1,000 cash prizes. The Audience Choice Award and $1,000 were also presented to Ms. Thendean.
Kevin Wang, 18, of Ontario, Canada, won Best Performance of a Contemporary Work and $500 for his performance of Marc Hyland’s “Prelude Blanc.”
The finalists, all between the ages of 15 and 18, were selected from a pool of 59 applicants from around the world. Serving as this year's jury were School of Music piano faculty members Dr. Eliran Avni, Fr. Sean Duggan and Dr. Nick Weiser, along with guest judges Elier Suarez, Shirley Chan and Dr. Alison d'Amato.
Wende Persons, managing director of the Sorel Organization, attended the event and gave remarks about Sorel’s legacy and also presented the First Prize award.
The competition is named for Sorel, a child piano prodigy and the first woman to be named a Distinguished University Professor in the SUNY system. (The title was later changed to SUNY Distinguished Professor.) Sorel established The Elizabeth and Michel Sorel Charitable Organization, named for her parents, to expand opportunities and stretch the boundaries for women musicians in the fields of conducting, composition, film scoring, performance, arts leadership, education, and scholarship.
More info about the Sorel Organization can be found online:
