PTNA is awarded 'Chopin Relief' from the Embassy of Poland
The Grand Reception to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of Frederic Chopin was held in Tokyo on December 2nd, organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, inviting Martha Argerich, Dang Thai Son, Yulianna Avdeeva (the winner of Chopin International Piano Competition in 2010) and many Japanese pianists and companies dedicated to the appreciation of Chopin's music.
PTNA was awarded the 'Chopin Relief' from the Embassy of Poland. This prize is to commend our endeavor to the development of the piano education in Japan which is resulted in producing a number of participants and prize winners at the Chopin International Piano Competition. Prof.Yuko Ninomiya (associate member of PTNA Executive Committee) received the relief on behalf of PTNA. She has taught Shohei Sekimoto, the 4th prize winner of 2005 Chopin Piano Competition.
Yukio YOKOYAMA (PTNA authorized member) and Aimi KOBAYASHI (14, PTNA student member) were awarded the 'Chopin Passport'. Mr.Yokoyama was awarded the 3rd prize and sonata prize at the Chopin Competition in 1990, and he recently played all the 166 solo works of Chopin in ONE day, which became acknowledged in the Guinness World Records. Ms.Kobayashi made her CD debut from EMI Classics with works of Chopin, and appeared on 'PTNA Teenage Pianist Concert' in May.
In 2010, PTNA made a variety of projects to explore the music of Chopin. A collaboration between PTNA and CHOPIN magazine is to introduce jazz arrangements of Chopin's works and its recordings on paper and online. In May, a special lecture-concert was held where Prof.Hitoshi KOBAYASHI (honorable mention in 1960, jury member of Chopin Competition in 1995) gave a lecture on Chopin and several young pianists including Rieko Nezu (finalist in 2005) gave a demonstration. In October, daily reports of the 16th Chopin Competition gained 570,000pv.
The popularity of Chopin is also apparent in PTNA Piano Encyclopedia, where the section of 'Chopin' gains nearly 70,000pv every month. And Manga "Story of Chopin", started in 2003, has already reached vol.177.