William Kapell International Piano Competition & Festival

Kapell Finishes on a High Note

On July 21, after an extraordinary evening of piano performance, Sofya Gulyak was named winner of the 2007 William Kapell International Piano Competition. The International Jury awarded First Prize to Ms. Gulyak after the three Kapell finalists performed in the concerto round with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Lockington to a sold-out house in the Dekelboum Concert Hall. For her competition selection, Ms. Gulyak performed Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30.

Second prize was awarded to Sara Daneshpour, who played Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1, Op. 23. Spencer Myer received Third Prize for his performance of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43.

The first prize of $25,000 was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Dukes, Jr.. The second prize of $15,000 was donated by Mr. J.D. Williams in honor of George and Virginia Sidwell, and the third prize of $10,000 was donated by Dr. John W. Layman in honor of Ellen and Margaret Layman.

For the first time this year, the Kapell Competition presented an Audience Award to the competitor whom the audience selected as the top performer in the final concerto round. Sofya Gulyak won the Audience Award, which includes a $1,000 prize.

Although the Kapell Competition & Festival is over, you can still take an inside look into the performers, the process and some of the festival events. Click here to go behind the scenes at the Kapell.

On July 19, semi-finalists were honored at an awards presentation. A number of individuals have shown how important the Kapell Competition and Festival is in their lives by establishing awards for outstanding competitors. Prizes were presented to the following:

Vadimas Chaimovicius
The Martha M. Boucher Memorial Prize ($2,000)

Alexei Gulenco
The Clifford Herzer Memorial Prize ($2,000)

Grace Eun Hae Kim
The Ferdinand J. Petraitis Memorial Prize ($2,000)

Kana Mimaki
The Kapo-Barwick Memorial Prize ($2,000)

Aleyson Scopel
The Ellen Layman Memorial Prize ($2,000)

Aleyson Scopel
The Volunteer Jury Award ($1,000)

Aleyson Scopel
The Chamber Music Award ($2,000)

Ti Xin
The Howard Laster Memorial Prize ($2,000)

Ti Xin
The Beatice Simmons Sabghir Memorial Award, presented to the youngest of the six semi-finalists ($2,000)

The William Kapell International Piano Competition & Festival occurs every four years as a program of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland. The Competition & Festival exist to nurture the development of artists in piano performance and encourage their recognition, to foster a better understanding of the piano and its unique place in our musical culture, and to generate enthusiasm in our community and worldwide for the creation and performance of piano music in all its diversity. We honor the name of William Kapell (1922-1953), an extraordinary American pianist with an enduring legacy.