WINNERS OF FIRST INTERNATIONAL PIANO 'E' COMPETITION ANNOUNCED

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (June 16, 2002)—The winners of the first International Piano-e-Competition held at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States and in Japan were announced last night by Alex Braginski, competition founder, president and executive director of this ground-breaking event. Awards will be presented Monday night beginning at 7:30 pm at Orchestra Hall.

The winners are:

Mei-Ting Sun

1st Prize:
Mei-Ting Sun, United States, age 20
The First Prize includes a $25,000 cash award, a Spring 2003 debut recital in Alice Tully Hall at New York's Lincoln Center, a CD release on The Schubert Club's Ten Thousand Lakes label, and a Yamaha DC3A 6'1" Disklavier polished ebony grand piano.

2nd Prize:
Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan, Canada, age 24
The 2nd Prize includes a $15,000 cash award.

3rd Prize:
Not Awarded

4th Prize:
Edisher Savitski, Country of Georgia, age 25
The 4th Prize includes a $5,000 cash award.

5th Prize:
Tatiana Kolessova, Russia, age 17
The 5th Prize includes a $5,000 cash award.

6th Prize:
Wen-Yin Chan, Taiwan, age 21
The 6th Prize includes a $5,000 cash award.

Best Performance of the Schubert Sonata:
Mei-Ting Sun, United States, age 20
This prize includes a $1,500 cash award.

The evolution of the Internet, along with advanced piano technology pioneered by Yamaha, makes the concept of the International Piano-e-Competition possible. It also enables organizers to attract great musicians to the jury whose busy schedules would otherwise prevent them from participating.

During the Competition Finals, competitors performed on a traditional nine-foot Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano, one of the world's finest instruments. What is unique is that the piano is equipped with Disklavier Pro reproducing technology, capable of transmitting performances as MIDI computer data through the Internet, which is then playable on similarly-equipped Yamaha pianos in other countries. As each artist performed at the Competition Finals, his or her note-for-note performance (including video) were captured digitally and sent via the

Internet to Japan, where they were recreated on the remote Yamaha Disklavier piano—its keys and pedals moving up and down, capturing every nuance of the original performance for the remote judge to view and hear.

The general public was able to "tune in" to the finalists' performances at www.piano-e-competition.com.

Acclaimed pianist Yefim Bronfman served as the competition's remote "e-judge" from Hamamatsu and Tokyo, Japan, and was joined by onsite judges Fou T'Song, Ralf Gothoni, Sergio Perticaroli, Abbey Simon, Sontraud Speidel, Dubravka Tomšic and Dmitri Bashkirov.

Commenting on his participation as the competitions remote judge in Japan, Mr. Bronfman notes, "What seemed impossible and fantastic a few years ago, is becoming a reality, enabling us to tune in to the cultural events of the world, wherever you are, and even to participate in them, in one way or the other."

"The Disklavier piano is a wonder of technology that makes a performance 'virtually' real. After adjusting to listening to the Disklavier piano, it has become a completely natural experience, following the music as if I was there in the hall, not six thousand miles away. Of course, watching the television screen helped to make it believable," Mr. Bronfman added.

The event, organized by Minneapolis-based Musicians in Debut International, was sponsored by Hamline University, the Grand Hotel Minneapolis, Minnesota Public Radio and Yamaha Corporation of America, with participation by Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, The Rosalyra Quartet, The Schubert Club, The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Murry Sidlin.

Schubert Sonatas and Quintets by Shostakovich, Brahms and Dvorak were performed on June 13 and 14 at Sundin Hall. Concerto performances were held on Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16 at Orchestra Hall.

During tonight's awards ceremony, selected pieces will be played by each of the prize winners and a concerto will be performed by Mei-Ting Sun with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mark Russell Smith.

About the Winners:

Mei-Ting Sun
Nationality: American
Country of Residence: USA
Instructors: Robert MacDonald, Edward Aldwell
Places of Study: The Juilliard School of Music, The Mannes College of Music

Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan
Nationality: Canadian
Country of Residence: USA
Instructors: Jose Feghali, Pavel Nersessian, Sergei Dorensky
Places of Study: Texas Christian University, Moscow State Conservatory
Prizes Won: Andorra International Piano Competition, 2000, 1st Prize.

Edisher Savitski
Nationality: Georgian
Country of Residence: USA
Instructors: Alexander Toradze, Nana Khubitia
Places of Study: Indiana University, South Bend; Tbilisi State Conservatory
Prizes Won: Hilton Head International Piano Competition, 2001, 1st Prize.

Tatiana Kolessova
Nationality: Russian
Country of Residence: Russia
Instructors: Prof. Nasedkin, K. Shashkina
Places of Study: Moscow, Central Special Music School
Prizes Won: Leeds Competition, Great Britain, 2000, 6th Prize.

Wen-Yin Chan
Nationality: Taiwanese
Country of Residence: USA
Instructors: Peter Serkin, Solomon Mikowsky
Places of Study: Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music (pre-college study)
Prizes Won: Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, 1998, 3rd Prize; Moscow International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, 1996, 1st Prize.