e-Piano Junior Competition Shortlists Australian Finalists

The e-Piano Junior Competition is a biannual event conducted by the University of Minnesota’s School of Music in partnership with Yamaha subsidiaries around the globe.

This is an international classical piano competition enabled by Yamaha’s Disklavier piano technology and is open to performers up to the age of 17.

Of the 60 finalists invited to a formal audition, for the very first time, three were selected from Australia: Rio Kai Rui and Calvin Abdiel from Sydney, and Shuan Hern Lee from Perth

The auditions were held on January 19th 2017 at the Conservatorium High School, Sydney and each presented a twenty minute repertoire of contrasting styles, including Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and Debussy on the school’s Yamaha DCFX Disklavier Concert Grand Piano

What makes these competition auditions unique is that they were recorded live utilising Yamaha’s proprietary Disklavier technology. Through this technology the competitor’s every nuance is captured by the instrument. This enables the performances to be replicated on any Disklavier, note for note, pedal for pedal, with every phrase and nuance captured exactly as the original performance.

The virtual performances, with synchronised video, will be assessed on a Disklavier in Minnesota by an international jury. In July, if successful, 5 competitors will be invited to perform with the Minnesota Orchestra with a first prize of $10,000.