A prestigious biennial event, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra National Piano Competition attracts Canada's finest pianists between the ages of 16 and 25.  The competition was created 27 years ago by the Toronto Symphony Volunteer Committee to foster young talent. Past winners have included celebrated performers such as Stewart Goodyear, Todd Yaniw, Rozalyn Chok, Darrett Zusko, among others.

The winners of the 2009 competition, held May 22 - 24 at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, were:

ALEXANDER SEREDENKO (Richmond Hill, Ontario)
The Roy Thomson Hall First Prize
$8,000 and a performance with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Buy tickets for Alexander's debut with the TSO in December 2010

ALEXANDER MALIKOV (Calgary, Alberta)
The Toronto Symphony Volunteer Committee Second Prize
$5,000 and a noon-hour recital
The Reny Burrows Prize for best performance of a Sonata
$1,000


SCOTT MacISAAC (Calgary, Alberta)
The Fong-Yee Family Third Prize
$2,000 and a Master Class at the Glenn Gould School, Royal Conservatory of Music


LEONARD GILBERT (Markham, Ontario)
The Pasquale Sabatino Prize for best performance of a 19th century Romantic piece
$1,000


SAMUEL DEASON (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
The Victor Feldbrill Prize for best performance of a Canadian work
$500


RONNY MICHAEL (Montreal, Quebec)
The SOCAN Foundation Prize for best performance of a Canadian work
$500


In Round One of the competition, 21 talented musicians from across Canada each performed a 40-minute recital. The esteemed jury -- Isobel Rolston, Marc Durand, Walter Homburger, Heather Slater, and Ronald Turini -- were so impressed with the calibre of performance that they chose eight finalists to play in the Final Round: Samuel Deason, Leonard Gilbert, Olivier Hébert-Bouchard, Devon Joiner, Scott MacIsaac, Alexander Malikov, Ronny Michael, and Alexander Seredenko.

For comments and inquiries about the competition, please contact us at tsopianocompetition@rogers.com.

View photos of the 2009 competition.

 

Robert Lowrey's Piano Experts is the official sponsor of the 2009 Toronto Symphony Orchestra National Piano Competition and exclusive representative of Schimmel Pianos.


Schimmel Pianos is the official piano of the 2009 Toronto Symphony Orchestra National Piano Competition.