National selection

Concours

international DE PIANO 2024

NATIONAL SELECTION (Ended)

This new international competition in Sorel-Tracy will introduce you to the most promising pianists from around the world.

INTERNATIONAL SELECTION

FRANÇAIS

Selected candidates

At the national selection last April, four candidates were selected for the International Piano Competition 2024, to be held in October.

Aaron Chow

31 ans – Toronto (Ontario)
Toronto born pianist Aaron Chow, has performed in major concert venues across North America and Europe. He has performed with the Koffler Chamber Orchestra, the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, and with the Tokai Quartet.
Aaron has been a winner in many competitions, nationally and internationally. He has been first prize winner at the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, second prize winner at the Artist Series Competition in Sarasota, Florida, Finalist at the Canadian Chopin Competition, Semifinalist at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Spain, Semifinalist at the International Bach Piano Competition. Additionally, he was first prize winner at the Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra competition, Glenn Gould School Chamber Competition, and DMA Recital Competition in Toronto.
Aaron is currently pursuing a DMA in Piano Performance under the tutelage of James Parker. Aaron had previously studied at the Glenn Gould School and Shenandoah Conservatory of Music with John O’Conor.

Christian Johann Derecho

24 ans – Etobicoke (Ontario)
Johann graduated with his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance (Honours) and is currently completing his Artist’s Diploma Program, both with full scholarship, at The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He has attended and performed in many masterclasses conducted by John Perry, Ronan O’Hora and Stewart Goodyear. He has attended and performed at several local and international music festivals. He was a former student of Sergei Pavlov.
He currently studies under acclaimed pianist and pedagogue John O’Conor. He is a consistent winner in both provincial and national competitions in Canada and these gained him invitations to play solo, chamber and with orchestra in several countries in Europe.
Johann debuted playing with an orchestra in Ontario when he was 13 years old and has since been invited regularly. He frequently performs in solo and chamber recitals.

Grégoire Abadie

18 ans – St-Bruno-de-Montarville (Québec)
A native of Sorel-Tracy, young pianist Grégoire Abadie has distinguished himself in a number of provincial and national competitions. Now 18, he won the Desjardins Grand Prix at the Choeur de la montagne competition in 2022, 1st prize in the 12-16 age group final at the Festival-Concours de Musique de Sherbrooke in 2023, 2nd prize at the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations competition in 2023 and 1st prize in the Piano category at the Festival de la Sinfonia de Lanaudière, with whom he performed in April 2024.
In 2022, he also won the Prix Alice Ste-Marie, awarded by the Conservatoire Foundation to the best pianist under 25. He began playing the piano at the age of 6, taking private lessons with Marie-Andrée Ostiguy until he entered the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal in 2021, with Suzanne Goyette. Since 2022, he has been studying with Richard Raymond. Grégoire is also interested in musical composition, having won several prizes in this discipline.

Zhan Hong Xiao

25 ans – Montréal (Québec)
Recently awarded 2nd Prize at the 111th Prix d'Europe and named one of the 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30 2023 by CBC Music, Zhan Hong Xiao discovered music at the age of nine at his elementary school, the Maîtrise des Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal. He holds a master's degree with distinction from the Conservatoire de Montréal, where he has studied since 2014 in Richard Raymond's class.
His first successes date back to 2015, when he was selected to represent Quebec at the CFMTA National Piano Competition, where he was awarded 2nd Prize and two other special prizes. In 2017, he won the Grand Prix on the Radio-Canada program Virtuose, and in 2018, 3rd Prize at the OSM Competition. As a soloist, he has performed with the Sinfonia de Lanaudière at the Festival International de Lanaudière, the Orchestre Métropolitain at Maison Symphonique and the Orchestre Classique de Montréal at Salle Bourgie.

The press release (FR)

Crédit photo : Lisa Stock

Concours international de piano de sorel-Tracy 2024

Open to all pianists of Canadian citizenship living in the country or abroad.

No video is required to participate in the National Selection. The performance will take place live in front of a jury in the music room at the Maison de la Musique de Sorel-Tracy at 124, rue George in Sorel-Tracy.

The registration fee for the 2024 National Selection which will take place on April 5, 6 and 7, 2024 is $100 CAD. The four winners selected for the Competition will not have additional costs to participate in the competition in October 2024.

Canadian candidates who are not selected for the competition will be allowed to apply to the preliminary rounds by video and must meet the requirements, including the registration fee of $200 CAD.

Repertoire required for the National Selection for a total duration of 20 to 30 minutes:

• A work or excerpt of a work from the Baroque period;

• Two movements of a sonata including the slow movement or a work in one movement from the classical period;

• A virtuoso etude;

• A work of your choice.

Application period is closed.

Concours international de piano de sorel-Tracy 2024

JURY

national selection

The National Selection jury members will secure a place for 4 Canadians to be among the 24 competitors at the Sorel-Tracy International Piano Competition to be held in October 2024.

The jury members are : Lise Boucher, Jean-Philippe Sylvestre and Frederic Chiu. The jury was selected by our jury president, pianist and teacher Richard Raymond.

Lise Boucher

Highly appreciated by the public as an extraordinary interpreter of French music, Lise Boucher is also a "skilful defender of those unobtainable pianos". "Inspired interpretation..." Franck Mallet, Le monde de la musique. Franck Mallet, Le monde de la musique. "A truly spellbinding climate", "Strength and interiority".

- Claude Gingras, La Presse.

Winner of the Prix d'Europe at the age of 17 and recipient of a Canada Council grant, Lise Boucher continued her musical training in Paris under the great masters. Back in Canada, she toured extensively with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. She then took an active part in the country's musical life. As a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra, she recorded numerous studio and public concerts for Société Radio-Canada. She gives recitals in Canada, France and the United States. She has been a guest with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Suisse Romande and Radio Télévision Espagnole, among others.

She has made numerous recordings for Radio Canada International. In January 2000, she gave the North American premiere of D.E. Inghelbrecht's La Nursery. Her recordings on the Atma Classique label have won her unanimous critical acclaim in Canada and France.

She is a guest judge at various national and international competitions, including the Valentino Bucchi International Competition in Rome, the Journées de la musique française and the Concours Prix d'Europe. On two occasions, she was a member of the pre-selection jury for the Montreal International Music Competition and the OSM Competition.

Lise Boucher taught piano and chamber music at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal for over 30 years. After serving as vice-president from 2004 to 2009, she has been president of the Académie de musique du Québec and head of the Prix d'Europe Competition since 2010.

Jean-Philippe Sylvestre

Renowned for his dazzling technique and great imagination, Jean-Philippe Sylvestre has been called a poet of the piano by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Both here and internationally, the artist from Sainte-Julie, Quebec, has often been rewarded with the Virginia Parker Prize, the highest distinction awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts, First Prize and Audience Prize at the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Competition, First Prize on several occasions at the Canadian Music Competition, and many others.

Jean-Philippe Sylvestre has performed on the world's most prestigious stages: Berlin Philharmonic, Musikverein (Vienna), Salle Gaveau (Paris), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Kings place (London), Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels), Salle Oriol Martorell (Barcelona), Teatro Mayor (Colombia), Theatro Municipal and Teatro B32 (Brazil), Récital Hall (Sydney), Maison symphonique, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier and Salle Bourgie (Montreal), Glenn Gould Studio and George Weston Hall (Toronto), National Arts Centre (Ottawa) and many others.

He has made several recordings, including one as soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra on the CHANDOS label. His recordings have been nominated for JUNOS and ADISQ awards. He has collaborated with conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jacques Lacombe, Christian Schulz, Richard Bradshaw, Boris Brott, Simon Streatfeild, Fabien Gabel, Alain Trudel, and Rolf Bertsch.

In winter 2024, Mr. Sylvestre is invited to perform a ten-concert tour of China in prestigious cities including Shanghai and Beijing. He will also perform solo concerts in London, Paris and Brussels. He has also been invited to give master classes at Middlesex University in London, the Conservatoire Hector Berlioz in Paris and the École Normal de Paris. He will be soloist with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec on May 1.

Frederic Chiu

Frederic Chiu performs in some of the world's most prestigious venues, including London's Wigmore Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York. His concerts take him all over Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa.

In France, he performs in the most important venues - in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Gaveau, Châtelet and the Cité de la Musique, at the Opéra de Lyon, the Corum in Montpellier, the Palais des Congrès in Strasbourg - as well as more intimate or unusual ones - the Bouffes du Nord, the Cirque d'Hiver, the Salle Cortot, the Chateau de la Verrerie...

His complete works for piano by Serge Prokofiev, available in a boxed set of ten discs, has become the benchmark. Other recordings include Chopin (Etudes op. 10 and 4 Rondeaux), transcriptions, three Sonatas and Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso, and Rossini's Péchés de Vieillesse. A Ravel/Decaux/Schönberg disc testifies to his eclecticism. His disc devoted to Schubert's Swan Songs, in Franz Liszt's solo piano version, turned the discography of this repertoire on its head. Latest releases: Beethoven/Liszt Symphony V, and Carnival of the Animals. In all, over 20 discs are currently available, an unrivalled discography among musicians of his generation. His next project features the music of Debussy and Gao Ping.

Frederic Chiu is a favorite at festivals such as La Roque d'Anthéron, Montpellier and the Festival Chopin. In chamber music, he is particularly fond of the repertoire for violin and piano, and plays with Pierre Amoyal, with whom he has begun a series of recordings, and Joshua Bell. Other partners include Christian Ivaldi, Gary Hoffman, Michel Lethiec, Paul Meyer, Truls Mørk, the Daedalus, Shanghai and St. Lawrence Quartets...

His interests take him outside the traditional realm of classical music, in collaboration with writer/clown Howard Buten, or comedians Sami Frey, Richard Sammel and Brian Bedford.

Mr. Chiu is also a sought-after pedagogue, for his masterclasses, and above all for his "Deeper Performance Studies" workshops, which reveal to their participants a profound philosophical and pschychological approach to the work, interpretation and life of an artist. He regularly visits the nine National Conservatories in China, as well as the world's leading institutions: The Juilliard School, Indiana University, The Banff Centre, Seoul National University, etc.

Of this unusual pianist, the New York Times tells us: "With his original but intelligent interpretations, his brilliant, non-sentimental sound, and even his strange seat, he reminds us a little of Glenn Gould." January 2015