Semifinals and finals for the Ninth Mae and Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition took place August 4-7 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The historic competition includes contemporary repertoire, continuo, improvisation, and performance of a Bach concerto with the acclaimed Lyra Baroque Orchestra (Jacques Ogg, Artistic Director).
Semifinals were on Thursday, August 5, live-streamed from The Baroque Room in St. Paul, and can be accessed at https://lyrabaroque.org/. 10 contestants performed diverse repertoire, including Geminiani with Jurow continuo judge Jaap ter Linden, cello. The semifinalists were Anastasia Chin (Singapore), Curtis Pavey (USA), Duangkamon Wattanasak (Thailand), Elena Zamolodčikova (Russia), Weronika Kłosiewicz-Paine (Poland), Zuguang Xiao (China), Steve Bergeron (Canada), Han Cheol Kang (Korea), Caitlyn Koester (USA), and Michael Delfin (USA). A program pdf for the semifinals is available at https://www.dropbox.com/…/Program%20for%20Jurow…:
Finalists were announced that evening. The finalists were Steve Bergeron, Anastasia Chin, Michael Delfín, Han Cheol Kang, and Zuguang Xiao.
The one truly live-audience event of the Jurow Harpsichord Competition 2021 was the non-finalists concert. Five 20-minute recitals were given by our wonderful semifinalists Lena Zamolodchikova, Duangkamon Wattanasak, Weronika Kłosiewicz-Paine, Caitlyn Koester, Curtis Pavey, on Friday August 6 at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church Art Gallery. This program was video recorded, and those recordings will be made available soon. A PDF of that program can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/…/Non-finalist%20concert.pdf….
The final round for the Jurow Competition included 40 minute solo recitals performed by the 5 finalists on Saturday, August 7. Repertoire included music by Frescobaldi, C.P.E. Bach, Partitura improvisation on Bernardo Pasquini, & Three Dances by Dina Smorgonskaya. Those recitals can be accessed at https://lyrabaroque.org/ and a PDF of the program can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/…/c2xu…/Finals%20programs.pdf…..
That evening, each of the finalists performed the D major harpsichord concerto by J.S. Bach with members of Lyra Baroque Orchestra. This streamed event is available for viewing at https://lyrabaroque.org/ with the passcode “Concertos”.
Prizes were announced that night at a reception and awards ceremony for judges and contestants. The Jurow Harpsichord Competition winners are Michael Delfín & Anastasia Chin (Tied for second prize), Steve Bergeron & Zuguang Xiao (Tied for third prize), and Elena Zamolodchikova (Jurow Prize for a Promising Non-finalist). No First Prize was awarded. Second Prize is $2500, Third Prize is $1500, and the Jurow Prize is $750. In addition to Mr. ter Linden, the judges were Frances Conover Fitch (New England Conservatory), Jacques Ogg (Royal Conservatoire, The Hague), Peter Sykes (Boston University & The Juilliard School), Elisabeth Wright (Historical Performance Institute of the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, Bloomington). The competition was directed by Vivian Montgomery (Historical Performance Faculty, Longy School of Music of Bard College).
Sponsored by the Historical Keyboard Society of North America, the Mae & Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition (formerly SEHKS International Harpsichord Competition) has occurred approximately every 4 years since the first in 1982. It has been held in Tallahassee, Florida (1982 and 1996), Washington, D.C. (1986), Winston-Salem, North Carolina (1991), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (2002), Denton, Texas (2007), Cincinnati, Ohio (2012), and Oberlin, Ohio (2016). Karyl Louwenaar was its first director, followed by Charlotte Mattax Moersch until passing the directorship to Vivian Montgomery in 2010.
- JUROW CONTESTANTS: Curtis Pavey (semifinalist, USA), Michael Delfin (Second Prize winner, USA), Han Cheol Kang (finalist, Korea), Anastasia Chin (Second Prize winner, Singapore), Weronika Klosiewicz-Paine (semifinalist, Poland), Elena Zamolodchikova (Winner of Jurow Prize for Promising Non-finalist, Russia), Steve Bergeron (Third Prize winner, Canada), Caitlyn Koester (semifinalist, USA), Zuguang Xiao (Third Prize winner, China). Missing is Duangkamon Wattanasak (semifinalist, Thailand).
- FINALISTS: Michael Delfin (Second Prize winner, USA), Han Cheol Kang (finalist, Korea), Anastasia Chin (Second Prize winner, Singapore), Steve Bergeron (Third Prize winner, Canada), Zuguang Xiao (Third Prize winner, China)
- JUDGES: Jaap ter Linden, Elisabeth Wright, Frances Conover Fitch, Peter Sykes. Missing is Jacques Ogg
- PRIZE WINNERS: Michael Delfin (Second Prize, USA), Anastasia Chin (Second Prize, Singapore), Steve Bergeron (Third Prize, Canada), Elena Zamolodchikova (Winner of Jurow Prize for Promising Non-finalist, Russia), Zuguang Xiao (Third Prize, China)
- SECOND PRIZE WINNERS: Michael Delfin (USA), Anastasia Chin (Singapore)
- THIRD PRIZE WINNERS: Zuguang Xiao (China), Steve Bergeron (Canada)
- JUROW PRIZE WINNER: Elena Zamolodchikova (Russia)
