Results of the 1st round of the VII. EPTA Iceland piano competition

The results of the 1st round of the VII. EPTA Iceland piano competition are now available. The secretary of EPTA Iceland was responsible for overseeing and handling of all applications. Members of the Jury of the 1st round were Alexey Lebedev, Aristo Sham og Daumants Liepiņš. The judges appraised the videos of each contestant with points and a brief review in English. The judges only received the following information about each contestant: a name, age/division and works performed. In order to progress to the 2nd round each contestant needed to receive a minimum of 240/3 points = 80 total. 

Enclosed is a list of contestants in alphabetical order who were chosen to compete in the 2nd round which will be held in Kaldalón Hall in Harpa on November 24th – 25th 2018.

1st division

Vasyl Zaviriukha
Þórey María Eyþórsdóttir 

2nd division

Alexander Viðar
Ásta Dóra Finnsdóttir
David Wallerstein
Eysteinn Ísidór Ólafsson
Guðmundur Steinn Markússon
Helga Sigríður Eyþórsdóttir Kolbeins
Ingibjörg Ramos Hilmarsdóttir
Klara Margrét Ívarsdóttir
Magnús Stephensen

3rd division

Anais Bergsdóttir
Baldvin Fannar Guðjónsson
Björn Helgi Björnsson
Ólína Ákadóttir

The board of EPTA Iceland thanks all contestants and the jury for their participation and wishes them good luck!

Great attendance at the 3rd EPTA Inland Conference

Great attendance was at the 3rd. EPTA Inland Conference which was held in Berg concert hall Hljomaholl in cooperation with Reykjanes School of Music January 14th. Around forty piano teachers attended the conference which offered several lectures by Icelandic professionals as well as keynote speaker, Professor Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist who spoke on the subject of preparing students for competitions. The highlight of the conference was the solo recital of Hong Kong-born pianist Aristo Sham who performed a selection of works by Scarlatti, Scriabin, Liszt, Brahms and Barber. It was an honor for EPTA to present such a rising star in the music world to Icelanders and it will be exciting to follow his career.
 
The review of Principal Haraldsson of Reykjanesbaer Music School about the conference and Mr. Sham´s recital illuminates what a great success the EPTA conference was: “I was well aware of how pleased the conference´s participants were with the lectures and the high standard of the facilities offered by EPTA. I´m happy to have been a part of this event on behalf of my school. The piano recital of Mr. Aristo Sham was absolutely fantastic! It is great and inspiring to observe and listen to such a young virtuoso. An amazingly mature performance with a sensitive and communicative shaping of tone, nuances and atmosphere affected me deeply as it did others in the audience. The board members of EPTA can be extremely proud of this conference.” Another review by Principal Indridadottir of Sigursveins Music School about the conference is also very commending: “The lectures were truly at a very high standard and clearly articulated – the piano recital by Mr. Sham was of course unbelievably great, – I have rarely heard such piano playing!”

EPTA Iceland Inland conference

EPTA Iceland upcoming Inland conference will be held at Berg concert hall at the Reykjanesbaer School of Music on January 14th 2018. As an upbeat to the upcoming EPTA Iceland piano competition in Harpa on November 24. – 25. 2018 the Inland conference will focus upon “how to prepare students for competitions” with Professor Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist, head of the piano department at Karlstad University´s Ingesund School of Music as keynote speaker. Mustonen-Dahlkvist´s student and rising star pianist Aristo Sham will perform a recital including works by Scarlatti, Liszt, Scriabin, Brahms and Barber as the highlight of the conference.

Other lectures will include the subjects of “teaching rhythmic piano” by Jazz pianist Sunna Gunnlaugsdottir, the Timani method by Bjorg Brjansdottir, “teaching improvisation” by Bjargey Thrudur Ingolfsdottir and “musicians health” by Kari Arnason founder of Reykjavík Art Clinic, specific physio clinic for musicians. The conference is open to all EPTA members, for further information please contact epta@epta.is

New president of EPTA Iceland

Nína Margrét Grímsdóttir has been elected the new president of EPTA Iceland.

We welcome Nína to the board and thank Anna Rún Atladóttir for her great work for EPTA Iceland.

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2,567th birthday of Confucius – Concert

To honor the 2,567th birthday of Confucius, the Northern Lights Confucius Institute presents: PIANIST DAVID WITTEN

Kaldalón Recital Hall in Harpa
Saturday 8:00pm
September 24, 2016

Works by
Yinghai Li
Alexander Tcherepnin
Bohuslav Martinů
Alexina Louie
Wolfgang Amadée Mozart
Frédéric Chopin
“The inner nature of man is the province of music.”
  – Confucius

Registration for the 38th international EPTA conference

Registration for the 38th international EPTA conference is now open. The conference will be held in Reykjavík, Iceland on the 22nd to the 25th of September 2016. If you register before the 17th of June, you will receive Early-Bird discount rates.

Some have had trouble with registration for the conference so here are the detailed instructions .

1. Go to the conference website
2. On the left side of the page you will find information about Iceland, the program, flights, hotels etc.
3. On the left side of the page you will also find a “Registration” option
4. When you have clicked on “Registration” you will see a participant registration and Hotel registration.

Hopefully you will have no problem with registering and we are looking forward to see you in Iceland in September!

Program for the 38th International EPTA Conference

Sep. 22
12:00-14:00 Registration in front of Kaldalón Hall, Harpa
14:00-14:30 Opening ceremony
14:30-15:00 Georg Frederick Litterst and Dr.Stella Branzburg Sick
Teaching with interactive technologies
15:00-15:30 Patrick Jovell
Digital Fear – Can the teacher be replaced?
15:30-16:00 Jean-Jacques Dünki
Music: A sign language
16:00-16:30 Coffee break + Book presentation
16:30-17:00 Grace Choi
Encouraging Improvisation through 18c Performance Practise in Collegiate class piano
17:00-17:30 Kristinn Örn Kristinsson
Teaching tone in the 21st century – Old methods or new methods?
17:30-18:00 Miha Haas
How to play piano with colour: A new answer to the old question
18:00-19:00 Welcome drinks in Bjortuloft Harpa
19:30-21:30 Concert in Harpa €26
Sep. 23
09:00-09:30 Radmila Stojkovic
Embracing the challenge of the critical point in teaching children the classical skills
09:30-10:00 Dr.Katarina Nummi-Kuisma
Intergrating basic music theory into piano lessons from the beginning
10:00-10:30 Dr.Murray McLachlan
Ferruccio Busoni: Creativity in Motion
10:30-11:00 Coffee break and Book presentation
11:00-11:30 Works composed for EPTA Iceland piano competitions
11:30-12:00 Marjes Benoist
How to teach talent, paradoxes, challenges and triggers
12:00-12:30 Erica Booker
The benefits of ergonomically scaled piano keyboards for smaller handed pianists: Levelling the playing field
12:30-14:00 Lunch break – open Kawai in Ríma hall
14:00-14:30 Dr.Nína Margrét Grímsdóttir
Icelandic Romanticism -A Welcome Addition to the Scandinavian Piano Literature
14:30-15:00 Dr.Randall Faber
Developing Musical Minds and Hearts
15:00-15:30 Dr.Randall Faber
Developing Musical Minds and Hearts
15:30-16:00 Coffee break and Poster session with Rhonda Boyle
16:00-16:15 Dr.Gary Ingles
MTNA: A “Glocal” Partnership
16:15-16:45 Ron Regev
Teaching piano in the digital age: Revisiting sheet music and teaching aids, from the 18th century to our time
16:45-17:15 Concert : Edda Erlendsdóttir
Works by Tómas Manoury, Úlfur Hansson, H.Dutilleux
17:15-22:00 Conference tour and dinner €99
Sight seeing tour and dinner
Sep. 24
09:15-09:45 Robijn Tilanus
Improvisation and harmony as a natural part of piano teaching in the 21st century
09:45-10:15 Guido Gavazzi
Fun & play method for piano dalcroze (IBook for IPad)
10:15-10:45 Coffee break and Poster session with Dina Savvidou
10:45-11:15 Andrew Higgins
Why creativity – Has all the music we will ever need already been written?
11:15-11:45 Sindri Már Heimisson
Piano technology – from past to present
11:45-14:00 Lunch break and AGM meeting
12:00-14:00 AGM Meeting
14:00-14:30 Dr.Kristín Jónína Taylor
Pedagogical aspects of the solo piano works of Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson
14:30-15:00 Linda Christensen
Technology to increase student engagement and motivation
15:00-15:30 Coffee break and Books presentation
15:30-16:00 Concert: Marcella Crudeli, Carlotta Masci and Leonardo Laviola
Works by D.Cimarosa and G.Rossini
16:30 Transfer to a formal reception
Sep. 25
10:00-10:30 Kári Árnason
Incorporating health promotion and injury prevention into music teaching
10:30-11:00 Justin Krawitz
Beginning method books – blessing or curse?
11:00-11:30 Susan Chan
Modern Chinese teaching pieces: A multimedia lecture recital
11:30-12:00 Coffee break + Book presentation
12:00-12:30 Peter Jutras
It´s never too late: Teaching Adult piano students
12:30-13:00 Júlíana Rún Indriðadóttir
A journey through the history of Icelandic traditional and classical music
13:00 End of Conference
13:00-19:30 Golden Circle tour by bus €80