Former Gorodnitzki Student Wins UCLA Piano Competition

Arkansas-based pianist Alan Chow captured top honors in the UCLA Piano Competition, which concluded Sunday at Royce Hall.

The $10,000 Sascha Gorodnitzki Prize was presented to Chow by Virginia Gorodnitzki, wife of the late pianist and pedagogue, in a ceremony after the final round of competition in which the three finalists each performed a complete concerto. In addition to the cash award, Chow won an opportunity to perform at Merkin Hall in New York and UCLA during the 1990-91 season.

“I feel terrific,” said the 32-year-old pianist, who has behind him a number of awards, including first prize in the 1988 Concert Artist Guild International Competition.

“It’s especially nice for me because the prize is named after Sascha Gorodnitzki and I worked with him at Juilliard.”

Besides Gorodnitzki, Chow studied with Menahem Pressler and Nelita True. He is currently in his fifth year of teaching at the University of Arkansas.

Chow received enthusiastic applause for his performance of Rachmaninoff’s First Concerto, a favorite piece of his. He had been uneasy following the semifinals, where he sensed that he “hadn’t played that well. But I was comfortable knowing that I’d played (the Rachmaninoff) a number of times with orchestra.”

The accompanying orchestra in this case was the Young Musicians’ Foundation Debut Orchestra, led by Jung-Ho Pak.

“Alan is a very polished and accomplished player,” said Andre Laplante, one of four members of the jury.

“I think what he does is very professional. . . . He certainly has a flair for sound, he has a flair for style. I thought (his playing) was very consistent.”

Edith Chen, a second-year Juilliard student, won the $5,000 second prize. The 19-year-old student of Martin Canin performed Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1. Chen, who lived in Los Angeles for about nine years before beginning her studies at Juilliard, returned to the Southland in May to perform Prokofiev’s Third Concerto with the Pasadena Symphony.

The $2,500 third prize went to 34-year-old Arthur Greene, another product of Juilliard’s Canin. Greene, who played Brahms’ D-minor Concerto, expressed some disappointment. “I thought (my performance) went very well. I did expect to win (first place).”

The three pianists had survived two rounds of competition in which the panel of well-known pianists narrowed the field from 26 contestants (31 were invited to compete), down to 10 semifinalists and finally to three finalists.

Although each of the three displayed “a high degree of brilliance,” the panel, according to jurist Johana Harris-Heggie, “wasted no time at all” in arriving at a decision Sunday. However, Aube Tzerko, another member of the jury, hinted that the decision was not unanimous.

“There’s always agreement and disagreement,” said Laplante, “but at one point you have to make the decision, because we could very easily be there all night.”

Also on the panel was Nelita True. Earlier in the month, John Perry and Francoise Regnat, along with Harris-Heggie, listened to the more than 100 audition tapes from applicants.

Before the announcement of the winners of the main competition, Ick-Choo Moon, the director of the event, introduced the winners of the UCLA-Samick Young Pianist Competition. Wendy Chen, 17, of Pasadena, Sayaka Tanikawa, 13, of Scarsdale, N.Y., and Adam Neiman, 11, of Fremont, Calif., took first prize in their respective age categories. Tanikawa also won the grand prize of a Samick grand piano. Each of the three performed a single movement from a concerto at the winners’ concert immediately preceding the final round of the main competition.