October 29, 2001
Contact: Press Secretary Marina Kavtaradze
For Immediate Release
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
website: http://www.mmc.net.ge/piano
Contact telephones: Directorate- tel.: 995-32-92 24 46 / 92 24 47; 92 0176
Press Center-98 71 84;

The Second Tbilisi International Piano Competition Announces Prize Winners
- Laureates are from Azerbaijan, Russia, Australia and Japan

Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia - The Second Tbilisi International Piano
Competition, held between 7-20 October, 2001 in Tbilisi, Republic of
Georgia, has announced its list of distinguished prize winners.  Pianists
from 15 countries were invited to Tbilisi to perform in the four rounds of
the competition which were presented at the Great Hall of the Tbilisi State
Conservatoire and the Tbilisi Music Center.

21 contestants, representatives of eight countries, were admitted to the
Second Round of the Competition, with 12 contestants, representatives of
six countries, participating in the Third Round.  Internationally renowned
Georgian pianist Eliso Virsaladze gave a master class on Sunday, 14
October.

Six contestants performed concertos with the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra
under the direction of Maestro Vakhtang Jordania in the Fourth and Final
Round of the Competition.

No Grand Prix was awarded in this year's competition.

Prizewinners of the Competition were:

2nd Prize of US $7,000  - Murad Adigezalzade of Azerbaijan

Two 3rd Prizes of US $5,000 each - Jacob Katsnelson of Russia - who also
received the award for Best Performance of a Classical Sonata in the Second
Round and Daniel Hill of Australia, who also recieved awards for Artistic
Aptitude and Best Performance in the Semifinal Round.

4th Prize of US$ 4,000 - Tanja Chernichka of Russia

5th Prize of US $3,000 to Maki Sekiya of Japan

6th Prize of US $2,000 to Maria Massytcheva of Russia

Additional awards included US $500 to Alexander Jakobidze-Guitman from
Russia for the best performance of a Georgian composer's work, Nodar
Mamisashvili's "Scherzo barbaro", by a foreign participant and a US $500
Audience Favorite award to Viatcheslav Griaznov of Russia.  Two awards
of US $500 each, the Alexandre Nizharadze Prize to the best Georgian
performers of the Competition, were given to Nino Gvetadze and Ketevan
Sepashvili.  For more information about these and the other competition
prizes, please visit http://www.mmc.net.ge/piano/frames.html.

All awards were given at the Tbilisi Music Center at a gala closing
ceremony and concert on October 20.  The major prizewinner's concert
engagements were announced at the Closing Ceremony of the Competition
and include concerts in Kutaisi and Batumi, Georgia, on 22-23 October.

The Tbilisi International Piano Competition, under the patronage of
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and General Director and its Founder
Manana Doidjashvili, was founded in 1997 by the Georgian Music Competitions
Fund and is held every four years.  For more information about the
competition and its requirements please visit the web site:
http://www.mmc.net.ge/piano.

The international jury came from Georgia - Chair Manana Doidjashvili,
Tengiz Amiredjibi, Edisher Rusishvili, France - Gerard Fremy, Russia-
Stanislav Igolinsky, Poland - Andrzej Jasinski, Great Britain- Piers Lane,
Italy - Dario De Rosa, Israel - Pnina Salzman, United States - Mark
Malkovich, III and Latvia - Arnis Zandmanis.

The major sponsor of the competition was the Gogi Topadze Fund.
Other sponsors were British Petroleum, the Georgian International Oil
Corporation, Airzena Georgian Air Lines Company, Georgian Pipeline Company,
The Railway Department of Georgia, The Intellect Bank, The Bank of Georgia
and The Hotel Tbilisi.

The Competition received 98 entries from 21 countries including Russia,
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Germany, Israel, Australia, Brazil,
Switzerland, Japan, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, USA,
Poland, China, Latvia, Canada, Kazakhstan.  The final list of participants
was greatly reduced because of recent international events and transport
problems.

The Directorate of the Competition is Manana Doidjshvili- Founder and
General Director; Ia Khurtsidze, Deputy General Director; Tamar Chikovani,
executive secretary; Nana Strazhevskaya, secretary-referent, Tamar
Kurdashvili - translator-referent and Marina Kavtaradze- press -secretary.

For more information about The Second Tbilisi International Piano
Competition, visit their website at http://www.mmc.net.ge/piano.  The
Directorate can be contacted at 995 32 92 24 46 / 92 24 47 92 0176.  The
Press Center can be reached at 98 71 84, or by email at
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Jeffrey James <[log in to unmask]>