Blind 20-year-old from Japan wins Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

From The Boston Herald:

FORT WORTH, Texas — A blind pianist and the youngest contender shared the top prize Sunday at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Gold medals went to Nobuyuki Tsujii, 20, of Japan (pictured) and Haochen Zhang of China, who turned 19 during the competition.

Yeol Eum Son, 23, of Korea won the silver medal. No crystal award, or third prize, was given.

The award ceremony in Bass Hall culminated the quadrennial competition, which began May 22 with 29 competitors from 14 countries.

The top prize-getters were remarkable for several reasons. It is the second time in the competition’s history, and the second time in eight years, that the Cliburn has awarded its gold medal to two pianists. For the first time, all three of this year’s top winners are from Asia. And it’s the first time that the Cliburn has awarded a prize to a blind pianist. (But not the first time a blind pianist has played in the competition.)

At Sunday evening’s announcement, a near-capacity crowd gasped as soon as they learned that no third prize would be awarded. Some in the crowd rose to their feet when Zhang’s name was announced as the first gold medalist. Zhang flung his arms around Van Cliburn’s waist for a hug before hoisting his silver trophy above his head.

Tsujii’s name was announced next, and the crowd stood again to cheer. Kay Nakamoto, who served as Tsujii’s translator at the Cliburn, led the pianist up the steps to the stage, then wiped away tears as Tsujii was given his trophy.

The top three winners each receive a $20,000 cash award, a compact disc recording on the harmonia mundi usa label, and — most importantly — professional career management for the next three years. The prize includes concert dates around the nation for Son and, for Tsujii and Zhang, a slate of international dates as well.

Tsujii said through an interpreter that he had no apprehensions about performing in the United States and will practice even more for his American audiences. He has already performed in Paris, Berlin and Warsaw.

Audiences have shared a special bond with Tsujii since the Cliburn’s preliminary round, giving him extended ovations each time he performed. As he moved into the final round, there was also much discussion in the hall about just how much the jury would consider his blindness while choosing a winner.

"He did not win because he’s blind," said Veda Kaplinsky, a juror and head of the Juilliard School piano department. "He won based on his playing. We were instructed very clearly to judge him exactly the way we judged everybody else. He himself requested he be judged like everybody else."

Juror Richard Dyer said Tsujii had an unusual impact on him.

"Very seldom do I close my notebook and just give myself over to it, and he made that necessary," Dyer said. "I didn’t want to be interrupted in what I was hearing."

Director James Conlon, who led the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra through the finalists’ concertos, said he’d never performed with a blind pianist before Tsujii’s final round.

"I’ve never had an experience like that before," Conlon said. "I don’t think he should be viewed as some sort of circus act. Obviously he’s an extraordinarily musical person, an extraordinary pianist. And I think he will do very well on the absolute objective scale of his talent."

Zhang, a Shanghai native and a student at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute, said he is proud to be the first Chinese gold medalist but wasn’t sure where he might eventually be based.

"I will certainly perform in China," he said. "But the United States is where I have been given opportunities."

Asked whether it would be difficult playing on the world stage at such a young age, Zhang said, "There is nothing more challenging than the Cliburn competition."

Though Zhang is young — he barely met the age requirement when he applied for this year’s Cliburn — Dyer said he is talented beyond his years.

"That is astonishing, that a person of 19 is telling me things I didn’t know about pieces I knew my whole life," Dyer said. "He’s amazing."

Son has studied music in Germany since 2006 and has performed with major orchestras in Israel, Japan, Poland, and her native South Korea.

The Cliburn prize will give her a chance to perform in the United States.

"I am so looking forward to playing in America a lot," she said Sunday. "I’m really looking forward to that because I have not really been all that exposed to playing a lot here."

The jury votes on winners using a computerized point system. The point differential between the top contenders was so close that jurors voted to declare a tie.

Dyer wouldn’t say which competitor had the highest point total.

"Not only am I not at liberty to say, I don’t want to," he said. "It’s irrelevant."

Stanislav Ioudenitch, who shared Cliburn gold with Olga Kern in 2001, said sharing the prize is a system that works. He and Kern were able to share the glory and divide the pressure that comes with being a Cliburn winner, he said.

"We have had a totally different approach to our careers," Ioudenitch said. "And we both have gained the maximum from it."

Finalist Mariangela Vacatello, 27, of Italy won the first audience award, determined by Webcast viewers who voted for their favorite performers.

She was mobbed by fans on her way out of the hall and stopped dozens of times to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Jury discretionary awards went to Lukas Vondracek, 22, of the Czech Republic, Alessandro Deljavan, 22, of Italy and Eduard Kunz, 28, of Russia.

Two pianists won the prize for best performance of chamber music: Son and Evgeni Bozhanov, 25, of Bulgaria.

Tsujii was also awarded the prize for best performance of a new work.

Having won the recognition for playing Improvisation & Fugue by American composer John Musto, Tsujii was asked whether he liked American music.

"I listen to jazz a lot, and I like Stevie Wonder, and meeting him was the happiest moment of my life," Tsujii said.

Happier than co-winning the Cliburn gold?

"No," he said. "Winning at the Cliburn is now the happiest moment," he said.