GERMAN WINS $50,000 FIRST PRIZE AT 2011 CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION

By Culturekiosque Staff

CLEVELAND, OHIO, 8 AUGUST 2011 — Alexander Schimpf, 29, of Germany, was named the winner of the 2011 Cleveland International Piano Competition. The distinguished jury selected Mr. Schimpf from a field of 26 candidates who performed over a ten-day period.

By the close of Friday and Saturday’s final performances, the competition’s jurors were faced with a difficult task, as all four finalists delivered exceptional performances of their respective concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra under Christopher Wilkins. Mr. Schimpf interpreted Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4.

In addition to a cash prize of $50,000 presented by Mr. and Mrs. A. Malachi Mixon III — one of the largest cash prizes of its kind — Alexander Schimpf receives more than 50 worldwide engagements, including a New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall on Monday, 5 December 2011.

Additional awards included:

- Second Prize: Alexey Chernov (Russia) — award of $25,000

- Third Prize: Eric Zuber (U.S.A.) — award of $15,000

- Fourth Prize: Kyu Yeon Kim (Korea) — award of $10,000

Alexander Schimpf graduated from the University of Music in Dresden, and received Artist Diploma from the University of Music in Würzburg. He won first prize at the 2009 Beethoven Competition (Vienna); was a semifinalist at the 2009 Leeds Competition (UK) and the 2008 Concours de Genève (Switzerland); and won second prize at the 2008 Città di Cantù Competition (Italy). In 2011 he performed with orchestras in Göttingen and Lübeck (Germany) and Vienna. In 2009 and 2010 he gave recitals in Munich, Nürnberg, Heidelberg and Hannover, Leeds (UK), and La Paz and Santa Cruz (Bolivia); and performed with orchestras in Augsburg.

Now in its 36th year, the Cleveland International Piano Competition has signaled such notable artists as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Angela Hewitt, and Sergei Babayan.

Headline image: Alexander Schimpf accepts the Mixon First Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition.
Photo: Roger Mastroianni

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