History of the Kapell Competition

The Early Years, 1971–1978

The William Kapell International Piano Competition & Festival had its beginnings in the annual Matthay Festivals held on the University's campus each summer between 1965 and 1970.These festivals, devoted to espousing the ideas of the great English pedagogue Tobias Matthay, featured workshops, lecture recitals by respected piano teachers and recitals by mostly young, relatively unknown pianists. In 1970, Dr. Stewart Gordon, then chairman of the piano division in the University's Department of Music, proposed expanding the Matthay Festival to include an international piano competition. He believed this would establish the University as an international center for the performing arts and would attract leading pianists from around the world to the College Park campus. Under the sponsorship of the Office of Summer Programs, the University of Maryland International Piano Festival & Competition was born.

In its expanded format, the 1971 Festival offered evening recitals and masterclasses by internationally known artists and a lecture recital series by the University's piano faculty. The first Competition, offering $4,000 in prize money, attracted a modest response. Although the quality of the contestants was uneven, the panel of five judges from the United States identified several noteworthy talents and awarded First Prize to Mark Westcott and Second Prize to Diane Walsh. They also recognized a promising young student with abundant talent — Emanuel Ax.

The success of the Festival & Competition established the event in the cultural life of the greater Washington-Baltimore region. Media recognition came quickly in the form of several major articles in leading piano journals, and for a number of years, the Music Critics Association held its annual meeting in conjunction with the Festival. In 1974, National Public Radio recorded many of the Festival events and Voice of America began broadcasting the Competition Finals. In 1976, concerto repertoire was added to the Competition Finals and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's participation added a greater aura of excitement. Following the 1978 Festival, Stewart Gordon stepped down from his position as director, and the Festival & Competition began its second phase.

Years of Growth, 1979–1985

The 1979 Festival & Competition was marked by a number of changes that indicated arrival at a new level of prestige. With Dr. Gordon's departure, Fernando Laires, then Professor of Piano at The Peabody Institute, became Festival Director. To celebrate this new phase of growth, a new work for piano was commissioned from Lawrence Moss, the University's composer-in-residence, which all semi-finalists were required to perform. Thus began a practice of commissioning new works which continued through 1988. Among the noted commissioned composers have been John Cage, Henri Dutilleux, George Perle, Vincent Persichetti and Ned Rorem.

In 1980, the international stature of the Competition was formally recognized with the admission of the Competition to the Federation of International Music Competitions based in Geneva, Switzerland. Following the Van Cliburn Competition by three years, Maryland became the second American competition to join the Federation whose members include all of the leading music competitions of the world.

Stewart Gordon returned to the post of Festival Director in 1982. At this time, the Friends of the Institute, which soon became Friends of the Rossborough Festival, helped to make this growth possible through their generous dedication and financial investments. Competition prize money rose to the forefront of international competitions and the number and quality of applicants continued to grow. At the conclusion of the 1985 Festival, Dr.Gordon announced his retirement from the University. He was succeeded by Eugene Istomin, who was appointed to the position of artistic director in the fall of 1985.

The Istomin-Lipkin Years, 1986–1992

Upon his appointment, Mr. Istomin suggested that the name of the Competition be changed to honor the great American pianist William Kapell, whose life ended tragically at the age of thirty-one in a 1953 plane crash. The International Piano Archives proudly displayed its new William Kapell collection in conjunction with a symposium on Kapell in which Istomin, Leon Fleisher, Abram Chasins, Gary Graffman and Anna Lou Dehavenon, Ph.D., delighted the audience with anecdotes and memories of the great pianist's life.

Following the 1987 Festival & Competition, Eugene Istomin left the position of artistic director, and Seymour Lipkin stepped into as artistic leaders, serving through 1992.Under his guidance the Festival & Competition continued to be an annual cultural highlight for the University and surrounding community, as well as for those from around the world who traveled to College Park to take part in this special week. Most notably the Competition truly became recognized as a major international event that awards more than $50,000 in prizes and attracts the finest young pianists in the world. The Competition finals were expanded in 1988 to include a recital phase in addition to the concerto phase. National interest in the Competition was marked perhaps most notably by a front-cover color feature article in the Sunday Chicago Tribune on the 1988 Competition.

Into the New Century

In 1998, under the leadership of Director George Moquin, the Kapell Competition adopted a quadrennial format similar to other major international piano competitions. After many years of hard work and inspired leadership, Mr. Moquin retired and the Kapell came under the management of the University's new Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center where it was presented for the first time in 2003.The Kapell also was charged with a refreshed purpose: to nurture artistic development in pianists, foster cultural understanding of the piano's important role in society and generate enthusiasm for the rich diversity of piano music. And in a fitting turn of events, the Kapell's first year at the Center corresponded with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Competition. In recognition of its founding, Stewart Gordon returned as International Jury Chair, and in recognition of William Kapell, the International Piano Archives at Maryland presented a retrospective on his life.

The 2007 Competition was marked by a number of innovations. To enhance each competitor's experience while here, the number of invitees was reduced from forty to approximately thirty and monetary awards were significantly increased. In recognition of the diverse nature of piano music, a chamber round was introduced for the first time in the Competition's history as part of the semi final round phase. And in recognition of William Kapell's mission to promote American works, semi-finalists were required to perform one of two American compositions from William Kapell's repertoire. And patrons had deeper opportunities to engage, including service on a semi-final round Volunteer Jury.