Thanks for the website:(www.cliburn.tv <http://www.cliburn.tv/>). It is awesome! I turned the TV off and watched it full-screen for hours. I wonder how long it will be up. It says until June 7th; however it says the competition was held last spring, so they must be repeats. I wonder how the piano situation is organized. I saw them rolling off one piano and rolling out another. Do they have a fleet of pianos and piano-tuning elves in the back room? It must be tough on pianos there. Thanks again. Phil Ryan Miami Beach PianoCare2 wrote: > > William > > Thanks for these comments. I have been watching the competition > through www.cliburn.tv <http://www.cliburn.tv/> . It is great to watch > live performances, as well as prior rounds and also rehearsals for the > finals. Nobuyuki is inspirational. I must add that Di Wu's rehearsal > of Beethoven 2^nd concerto was fantastic.... Especially the singing > tone in the second movement. Bozhanov is also up there. It is going > to be a great final. Hopefully Nobuyuki will finish in the top three. > > Brian Wilson > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > *From:* pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] > *On Behalf Of *Piano Boutique > *Sent:* Monday, 1 June 2009 9:41 AM > *To:* pianotech at ptg.org > *Subject:* [pianotech] Half o t > > > > List, I ran across this on one of my blind lists and thought you might > find it interesting. > > > > William > > > > > > Blind pianists wows audiences at piano contest > By ANGELA K. BROWN - 20 hours ago > > > > FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - With a dramatic bow of pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii's > head, rich sounds of the piano, violins, cello and viola broke the concert > hall silence as he and a string quartet played Schumann's Piano Quintet in > E-flat major, Op. 44. > > > > Just before the final note about 30 minutes later, the Van Cliburn > International Piano Competition audience began clapping. People jumped to > their feet, some whistling or yelling, "Bravo!" > > > > The standing ovation lasted nearly five minutes, so long that the > 20-year-old from Japan returned to the stage twice to bow, grinning > from ear > to ear. > > > > The audience may have loved Friday's performance, but not everyone may > have > known its significance. Tsujii - who was born blind - had to figure > out how > to cue the other musicians. That was especially important with the > Schumann > piece, because all instruments must start playing simultaneously in the > first movement. > > > > After his first rehearsal last week with the Takacs Quartet - the > University > of Colorado at Boulder-based group that performs with all 12 Cliburn > semifinalists - Tsujii said he decided to nod his head as a cue. > > > > He had only played with a chamber music group once before, recently in > Japan, after learning it would be required should he advance to the > Cliburn > semifinals. He previously performed with symphony orchestras in Paris, > Berlin and Tokyo, and he followed the conductor's breathing, he said. > > > > But Tsujii said his blindness has not limited his playing > opportunities and > that he doesn't want to be known as the pianist who cannot see. > > > > "The most important objective as I'm performing is that the audience is > going to be moved," Tsujii said through an interpreter. > > > > While playing on stage, first violin Edward Dusinberre occasionally > glanced > at Tsujii, and he and the other Takacs Quartet members also seemed to rely > on musical cues. > > > > "We've had a great time working with him," Dusinberre said before Friday's > performance. "There is of course a tremendous intensity to his > listening to > what we're doing, and his sense of timing is very natural, and so we're > having a great time communicating with him." > > > > Cliburn officials initially said Tsujii was the competition's first blind > competitor but recently were reminded about a blind pianist who didn't > advance past the first round in 1973. > > > > Tsujii, nicknamed Nobu, already had fans in Japan but has gained even more > since arriving at the Cliburn. So far, video of his preliminary round > performance on the contest's Web site has about 11,400 views, the most of > the 29 pianists who started in the competition. > > > > Van Cliburn, the legendary classical pianist and namesake of the > prestigious > contest held every four years, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that > Tsujii's playing was "absolutely miraculous" and "truly divine" after > hearing him last week. > > > > Tsujii was just a baby when he showed an interest in music, said his > mother, > Itsuko Tsujii of Tokyo. > > > > "When I would put on Chopin CDs, he reacted very actively, patting the > sofa, > and seemed to be enjoying it," she said through an interpreter. > > > > After he played the toy piano she got him at age 2, he started taking > lessons at 4 and began learning to read music in Braille. But because that > method took too much time, he listened to music recorded by his piano > teacher and memorized it, which took a few days for some pieces or a week > for longer, more complex ones, he said. > > > > "Although he is blind, you never know that when listening to his music," > Rena Miyamoto, an assistant piano teacher at Ueno Gakuen University in > Tokyo > who recently began working with him, said through an interpreter. "His > music > is from his soul, his heart." > > > > The six Cliburn finalists will be announced Sunday night. All of them will > receive managed concert tours worth $1 million, and each of the top three > finishers will receive $20,000 and get to record a CD, among other prizes. > The winners will be announced June 7. > > > > http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ibozl-WK0Gob0c6-XJUQZ_NBKVNQD98GRI681 > > > > Kathy blackburn > > > > kblackbn at austin.rr.com <mailto:kblackbn at austin.rr.com> > > > > ************************************************************ > Join the Monthly Monetary Support program (MMS) and help improve tomorrow > today in ACB. > For details, contact Dr. Ron Milliman, MMS Program Committee Chair, by > e-mail: > rmilliman at insightbb.com <mailto:rmilliman at insightbb.com> or by phone > at 270-782-9325 and get started making > tomorrow look brighter today in ACB! > > > > * ACB-L is maintained and brought to you as a service * > * of the American Council of the Blind. * > -- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: acb-l-unsubscribe at acb.org > <mailto:acb-l-unsubscribe at acb.org> > For additional commands, e-mail: acb-l-help at acb.org > <mailto:acb-l-help at acb.org> > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.339 / Virus Database: 270.12.46/2144 - Release Date: > 06/02/09 17:53:00 > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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