First Stage Results

ELIZABETH MADE IT !! After about an hour of deliberation, the jury announced the results last night at around 11:30pm. The rules and regulations state that 16-18 people are admitted to the second round. Since only 20 competed, the obvious choice was to pass 16. So without further ado, here is the schedule for second stage:

Monday 12, 14:00

Rachel Piesslinger, Austria

Elisa Netzer, Switzerland

Noel Wan, USA

Remy van Kesteren, The Netherlands

Monday 12, 19:00

Gwenllian Llyr, Wales

Paola Baron, Italy

Ruri Chikaishi, Japan

Elizabeth Jaxon, USA

Tuesday 13, 10:00

Emilie Jaulmes, France

Ina Zdorovetchi, Moldova

Meredith Clark, USA

Anna Aftaeva, Russia

Tuesday 13, 19:00

Valérie Milot, Canada

Emily Levin, USA

Marina Roznitovsky, Israel

(El will probably be playing around 9:30pm on Monday night.)

The Aharon Zvi & Mara Propes Prize for US$2,500 for the best performance of Out of Infinity by Ytzhak Yedid went to Ina Zdorovetchi of Moldova. Bravo!

On a special side note, Victoria Davis of the UK also passed into the second stage, but due to illness has had to go home. I am very disappointed that I won’t be able to hear her play again. Her first stage performance was extremely good. Musically, she had a really intelligent and well-felt interpretation, and was technically very solid indeed! It’s a pity to see such a good player have to abandon the competition after so much work just because of a nasty bug.

Victoria, Remy, El on our first evening in Tel Aviv

Lastly, I would like to apologize for the delay in getting these results posted. The hotel’s internet had been down for over 24 hours, and I almost had to hunt for a McDonald’s with free wifi . (If you look past the food and the social stigma of going to such an American establishment, it’s actually pretty nice to know that wherever you go in the world, one thing is sure – free wifi at McDonald's!)

El's victory pretzels, not from McDonald's