Kelly Schuler was 16th on the keys. The count was at 336 repetitions and 7 hours, 51 minutes, 25 seconds when the 17th pianist slid onto the bench as Kelly took her bows from the itinerant audience consisting at any time of 10 to 30 stopped listeners. The brave first pianist began at 4:30 AM, with professional concert pianists Artem Yasinsky, Minsoo Sohn and Marc-Andre Hamelin finishing the lengthy piece five minutes before midnight.
It all happened at no charge, with Honens volunteers standing by to explain the current event and to invite people to attend the other events comprising part of Honens Festival'16.
In October Kelly gives two private concerts of her chosen competition piano pieces, including a piece by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, known as the most played living composer! This is in preparation for the competition and includes her sharing her story that has led to the Honens ProAm piano adventure. She will also accompany an opera singer for a few selections.
The pre-competition concerts are by donation and are on October 2nd from 2-3:00 at Lipnicki Fine Pianos and October 16 from 2-3:00 at Steinway Piano Gallery. Please RSVP to kelly@bravecommunications.ca or by phone: 403 680-7307. She invites people to join her on this adventure! Her former music teacher, the late Lydia Pals, an Edmonton Estonian, would be especially proud of Kelly this year.
The big event is the Honens ProAm'16, a piano competition for amateur pianists who make their living in professions other than music. Kelly Schuler is one of four finalists in this event taking place Saturday November 19, at 2:00 PM at the Rozsa Centre, University of Calgary. The four 15- minute performances are judged by a panel of experts plus votes by audience members. Anyone wishing to do so can show support, and find Information and tickets at www.honens.com/Kelly.
Some readers may recall two young men from Estonia participating in the Honens main competition. Typically, over 80 candidates under the age of 30 are evaluated prior to the main event, with only 21 privileged to travel to Calgary for the finals (more recently only the best 10 come to Calgary). Tanel Joamets competed in the finals in Calgary in 1996. Marko Martin achieved second place in the main competition in the year 2000, plus he placed first in Chamber performance and best in performance of that year's commissioned work. Both have since been featured as soloists at recitals and symphony concerts in Estonia.
Helgi Leesment
