OPAC announces semi-finalists for international piano competition

Brian Graves, The Anniston Star, Ala.
·4 min read

Jul. 23—OXFORD — It has been only a few weeks since Oxford hosted athletes from Japan and Australia.

Piano artists from across the globe are prepared to make their journeys to the same town, but different venue as the city prepares to host the inaugural Rubato International Piano Competition Aug. 12-13 at the Oxford Performing Arts Center.

There will be 16 competing in the classical category and six competing in the jazz category. Their backgrounds are as diverse as the pieces of music they will perform on the OPAC stage in front of a panel of Hall of Fame piano judges.

The semifinalists are coming from South Korea, China, Australia, Ecuador, Taiwan, Argentina, Japan, China, Taiwan, and Thailand as well as from New York, Texas, Colorado, California, Kansas, and Maryland. One is also from Alabama.

"Our semi-finalist from Thailand comes from and was nominated by that country's premier music conservatory, Rangsit University," OPAC Education Director and Rubato founder Julio Barreto said. "It was exciting to see that school's Facebook page post the Rubato information and congratulating their student for being chosen."

The artists range in age from 12-26, and Barreto said getting them prepared and ready for a good stay has been a challenging undertaking — especially after viewing and hearing the competitors' audition videos.

"It is absolutely breathtaking the talent that we are going to see here," he said. "I'm not sure people will totally understand the high quality of talent they will be hearing during that weekend."

Barreto said it was not just the quality, but the quantity of the talent who wanted to come that was surprising for this inaugural event.

"I spoke with the director of one of the nation's most prestigious piano competitions in Colorado who said they work for years to get competitors," Barreto said. "When I told her we had 73 submissions from more than 12 countries for our first one, she said that was nothing short of amazing."

All of those coming to Oxford are doing so with the help of scholarships developed by donations from individuals and businesses.

"Working with our director of development, Crystal Hancock, we were able to get scholarships funded for all of our semi-finalists that will pay for their travel, food, and stay," Barreto said. "We wanted everyone to have a level playing field and not be denied the chance for this opportunity."

He said some of the artists, especially the younger ones, will be staying with host families.

"There have been a lot of 3 a.m. phone calls talking with parents and our semi-finalists from all over the world to make sure we know things such as if they might have food allergies," Barreto said. "But, you can hear the excitement in their voices."

Barreto thanked Mayor Alton Craft and the City Council who are allowing city vehicles to be used to pick up the competitors from both the Atlanta and Birmingham airports, bring them to Oxford, then return them after the competition for their return flights home.

Most will be arriving by Aug. 7 and will be spending the first three days of that week having Master Class instruction from the competition judging panel, who also served as the panel who chose the semifinalists.

They will be treated to a night of Southern hospitality and fun at Big Time Entertainment before the semifinal performances on Friday, Aug. 12, at 6 p.m. and the finals on Saturday, Aug. 13 at 6 p.m.

The semifinal night on Aug. 12 will be free of charge, but tickets will be necessary. Tickets for the finals on Aug. 13 will be $15 and $8 for students.

[TIMOTHY, YOU CAN TRIM HERE FOR SPACE IF YOU WANT.]

"We have hosted visitors from virtually all 50 states at this point and we have had a small number of international performers as part of our chamber music series," said OPAC Executive Director John Longshore. "This is kind of a paradigm shift in the programs which we have presented ourselves."

Longshore said most events on this scale and of this caliber are done with various partners.

"We certainly are appreciative of the support we have received and are receiving from sponsors such as Steinway Pianos and Alabama Power, but this is an OPAC-produced event," he said. "I'm not sure many people recognize the heft of a project such as this. It didn't hit me just how amazing this is until this past week when Julio was telling me how many countries are going to be represented."

"This is not going to be Alabama. This is not going to be Oxford. This is not just the United States," Longshore said. "It is truly an international event. I am so immensely proud of our OPAC team who have brought this to fruition. There are those who asked, 'Why Oxford to host an international piano competition?' My response is, 'Why not?'"