“Indianapolis will have the rare opportunity to see five of the nation’s best pianists just as their careers are taking flight,” writes Domenica Bongiovanni in Tuesday’s (6/8) Indianapolis Star. The finalists for the biennial American Pianists Awards “will pack solo, chamber and orchestra performances into one weekend from June 25-27. The winner will be named after the final concert. If this were a non-pandemic year, audiences would have already seen finalists Sam Hong, Dominic Cheli, Kenny Broberg, Mackenzie Melemed and Michael Davidman perform … with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra [and spend] a three-day residency at a high school. But this is 2021, so the American Pianists Association has organized a hybrid virtual-live competition. At 3:30 p.m. each Sunday through June 20, the competition is sharing each pianist’s virtual solo recital … at americanpianists.org, on the American Pianists Association Facebook page and on its YouTube channel…. The association awarded each of the finalists $50,000 … to help support the musicians during a year that decimated live music. The winner also will receive … career assistance, publicity, performance engagements around the world, an artist-in-residence post at the University of Indianapolis and a recording contract with the Steinway & Sons label.”
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