 Terni, Italy • June, 2010 - Established in 1966 to commemorate the musician and composer Alessandro Casagrande (1922-1964), the biennial Casagrande International Piano Competition attracts some of the world’s finest pianists, with previous participants including Dmitri Vorobiev, Alexei Nabioulin, Herbert Schuch,
and Evgeni Bozhanov. The 29th edition of this competition was held from May 26th to June 5th in the ancient town of Terni, Italy, approximately 100 Km north of
Rome.
The panel of international jurists did not assign a 1st prize winner for this year’s competition, however the 2nd prize was awarded to Ms. Eri Mantani from Osaka, Japan, who selected the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano for her performances throughout
the competition.
A graduate of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music, Ms. Mantani is currently studying at the Rostock University of Music and
Theatre in Germany, and has performed recitals throughout Japan and Europe. Speaking after the competition, Ms. Mantani, who also
received a special prize for the best performance of a latter-period Schubert sonata, praised the selected Kawai concert grand piano, “The SK-EX’s sound can be controlled very easily… it is a fantastic instrument, and one that I shall be very happy to play again in the future,”
Kawai’s association with the Casagrande began in 1994, providing a concert grand piano as one of the official competition instruments. Kawai has continued to enjoy considerable success in this competition, with 1st prize winners Ms. Yuka Imamine (Japan), Ms. Hisako Kawamura (Japan), and Ms. Irina Zahharenkova (Estonia) all selecting Kawai in recent years. |
