Hot News
Khachaturian Competition extends application deadline; to cover travelling expenses
Aram Khachaturian International Competition extends the deadline for this year cello competition. Cellists aged between 16 and 32 can now apply before April 10, 2013.
Aiming to encourage the activity of young musicians, the Organizing Committee has just announced that it will cover half of the travelling expenses for participants arriving from outside of Armenia. In case travelling expenses exceed €500, the organizing committee will cover €250 of the cost.
Results of the 2013 Washington International Competition for Singers
The final round of the 2013 Washington International Competition for Singers was held on Monday evening March 18th in the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center.
Washington DC native Soloman Howard was chosen as the first prize winner by judges Patricia Wise, Catherine Malfitano and Peter Russell. Howard, a bass, won $10,000 and was also selected by the audience for an additional $1,000 award.
Mr. Howard, 32, is in his second year of Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafitz Young Artist program. He is slated to appear as Joe in WNO’s Show Boat and as Muhammad Ali in the world premier of Approaching Ali. He will sing Sarastro in the Magic Flute in 2014. As part of his prize for winning the competition he will give a recital at the Phillips Collection.
Winner of second place and a $5,000 award is soprano Abigail Mitchell. Ms. Mitchell, 28, completed her Artist Diploma in 2012 at the Royal College of Music in London. This summer she joins the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist Program where she will cover Countess Almaviva in le nozze di Figaro.
Rounding out the top awards in third place is soprano Paloma Friedhoff Bello, 26. Recent first prize winner at the 8th International Singing Competition "Villa de Colmenar Viejo" in Madrid, Spain, she completed her Master’s degree from Indiana University this past December as a recipient of the prestigious Spanish scholarship "La Caixa."
Finalist awards of $1,000 each were given to soprano Natalie Conte, 31, countertenor Eric Jurenas, 23 and soprano Laura Strickling, 31.
The Washington International Competition is sponsored by the Friday Morning Music Club Foundation. It is an annual event which rotates between competitions for piano, strings and voice. There wil be a piano competition in 2014 and the next voice competition will take place in 2016.
Young musicians profiles and websites
Dear Young Artists!
If you have a website or Facebook Page and would like to promote it through Bakitone, please email us on here and we will post the link to your website or page on Bakitone's Facebook Wall. By the way Bakitone wishes you Happy New Year, please check upcoming 2013 competitions :) Good luck !!!
Narek Hakhnazaryan's official webpage
Dear friends! Please visit and LIKE the official Facebook page dedicated to one of the most talented cellists of the world stage Narek Hakhnazaryan, the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition Cello First Prize and Gold Medal winner.
In the 2012/13 season, Narek Hakhnazaryan looks forward to his debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev at the Gergiev Festival, where he will perform the Dutilleux Concerto, as well as debuts with the London Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Milan, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic. In recital he will make debut performances at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Boston and the Vancouver Recital Series.
Memorial Service for Victor Merzhanov
Bakitone deeply regrets to announce the passing of Victor Merzhanov, one of the greatest Russian pianists. He achieved international recognition as a pianist in 1945 when he won the first prize (shared with Sviatoslav Richter) at the Third All-Soviet-Union Piano Competition. His name is inscribed on the Moscow Conservatory's marble wall along with those of Scriabin and Rachmaninov. From the start of his career he championed Contemporary classical music and was chosen by Prokofiev to give the first performance of his Sixth Sonata.
Victor Merzhanov has served as a jury member in more than 40 international competitions including the Rachmaninov Competition (which he has founded) and Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the Bartok-Liszt Competition in Budapest, and international competitions in Montreal, Tokyo, Brussels and others. In addition, Merzhanov was the artistic director of the Rachmaninov Piano Courses, and has contributed greatly to the Rachmaninov Museum in Ivanovka near Tambov, Russia and supported Bakitone International.
The memorial service will take place in Moscow Conservatory on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, 11 AM.