A group of young South African pianists will take part in the annual Atterbury National Piano Competition in the Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria, from 17 to 21 October 2016. Once again there are big prizes to be won.
The overall winner of the competition will be awarded with a cash prize of R30 000. More prizes that amount to a total of a further R80 000 are available for pianists in the different age categories.
There are three age categories in which to enter: 12 years and younger, 15 years and younger , and 19 years and younger. A total of 36 candidates have been successful in their auditions to participate in the 2016 competition.
The official opening ceremony will take place on Monday 17 October at 18h30. The overall winner of the 2015 competition, Leo Gevisser, will open the ceremony by delivering a short programme. The winners of the Stefaans Grové National Composition Competition of 2016 will then be announced, and the works of the winners will be performed. The event will be concluded by the formal introduction of all the participants to the audience.
The competition consists of four rounds. All candidates participate in the first two rounds on Tuesday 18 October and Wednesday 19 October. The 18 semi-finalists will then be announced, and the third round ( semi-final) takes place on the Thursday. Only 9 finalists will participate in the final round on Friday evening 21 October at 19h00.
The list of 2016 candidates include finalists and winners of previous national music competitions. This competition , however, is unique as only pianists compete against one another, which levels out the playing ground for the competitors.
The adjudicators for 2016 are Prof. Alexander Johnson, Mr. John Roos, and Prof. Nina Schuman. The Atterbury Trust is the main sponsor of the competition.
All rounds are open to the public. Entry for the opening ceremony and the first three rounds are free. Tickets for the final gala evening are available from Computicket.
