Keys to the Kingdom Kapell International Piano Competition Offers $20,000 Prize by Jessica Shyu A menagerie of keyboards, musical legends and 40 of the worldís top pianists will be convening at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland for the 25th William Kapell International Piano Competition and Festival beginning July 16. The 10-day event features 40 pianists from 17 countries competing for international prestige and a $20,000 grand prize. Classical and modern musical recitals, master classes, discussions and a Grand Piano Party are scheduled throughout the competition, which culminates July 25 with three finalists performing with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and music director Yuri Temirkanov. Selected from 205 international contestants, the remaining challengers, whose ages range from 18 to 33, will endure a week of preliminary and semifinal rounds before the finalists are announced. With contestants hailing from Belarus to Korea to Israel, the competition is ìa lot like the Olympicsódynamic young people who have spent years preparing and coming from all over the world to compete,î said Christopher Patton, coordinator for this yearís event. A ll 40 amateur competitors will perform at the Elsie and Marvin Dekelboum Concert Hall in the University of Marylandís state-of-the-art performance venue and will have the choice of grand pianos from three makers: Steinway, Yamaha and Kawai. Each maker sends its technicians to fine-tune the instruments, perfecting them for the shows. One of the technicians at the last Kapell competition in 1998 was so committed to his work that he chose to sleep under the piano, Patton recalled. The event, held about every four years, is named in honor of the first American virtuoso pianist whose young yet brilliant career was cut short at the age of 31 when his plane crashed while returning from an Australian concert tour. As one of the Washington-Baltimore regionís cultural traditions, the international piano competition was established in 1971 as part of the annual Matthay festivals celebrating pianists and workshops at the University of Maryland. This yearís festival embraces the pianoís diversity as an instrument and an accompaniment for classical, jazz and contemporary music. The competition focuses on concert grand piano; however, the festival spotlights chamber music, opera and contemporary music, devoting an entire day to jazz on July 22 with jazz masters Jason Moran and the McCoy Tyner Trio. Families and piano fans are encouraged to come out for the daily events, many of which are free, including the Grand Piano Party on July 20. A keyboard petting zoo will be on display, along with a collection spanning Renaissance harpsichords to 21st-century computerized digital keyboards. National Public Radioís ìPerformance Todayî musical puzzler Bruce Adolphe will also be at the party, and Canadian pianist Michael Kaeshammer and his trio will trace musical history by playing jazz and boogie-woogie from the 1920s to today. ìThe William Kapell International Piano Competition and Festivalî runs from July 16 to 25 at the University of Marylandís Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, Md. For more information, please call (301) 405-ARTS or visit www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu. Jessica Shyu is an editorial intern for The Washington Diplomat.