Today the semifinal round of the 2009 Int'l Amateur Piano Competition was held at Koiwa Urban Plaza, Tokyo. Though I did not take part in this year, went to see and listen to the performances of the participants, many of them are either friends of mine or at least I got to know through various events since last year.
Per A division, any piece by J.S. Bach is mandatory, plus a piece of participant's choice is played. It appears that the primary criterion is how your play Bach, which I believe to be quite reasonable given the fact that any of his requires solid fundamentals, the very essence of how you create the sound, your takt, precision, because simply placing the notes as they are given does not appeal at all, and correctly playing J.S. Bach pieces test your mental strengths as well especially in the pressure-cooker situation on the stage of a competition.
There were many performances that I really enjoyed, and from every one of them I learned a lot, which was not possible if I participated in the competition myself. In hindsight, probably my decision not to participate was to the point, I guess. Above all, it was a great motivator.
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