Chances are, this is the first time you read the name Stanislav Khristenko, but just try to avoid him in the future: The young Russian pianist has won 50 (fifty) engagements around the world, in addition to $50,000 in taking first place at the Cleveland International Piano Competition last week. He was selected from a field of 28 candidates, who performed over a 10-day period.
Khristenko performed the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 at the final concert, with Stefan Sanderling conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. One review praised the performance for its "shimmering filigree and phrases of exquisite tenderness, in which every note mattered."
That exceptionally generous grand prize comes with three years of management services, a recording by Steinway & Sons, New York, and a New York recital at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall next May.
Other finalists included:
Second Prize: Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev, Russia, $25,000
Third Prize: François Dumont, France, $15,000
Fourth Prize: Jiayan Sun, China, $10,000
Baroque Prize: Andrejs Osokins
Beethoven Prize: Stanislav Khristenko
Cairns Family American Prize: Oskar Jezior
Chopin Prize: François Dumont and Ruoyu Huang
Contemporary Prize: Ben Schoeman
French Prize: François Dumont
Mozart Prize: Miao Huang
Russian Prize: Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev
Audience Prize: Jiayan Sun