FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Festival of Music 2005 and the 3rd Annual Washington International Piano Amateur Competition

July 7 – 10, 2005

Ticket and venue information:

Semi-Finals - July 9, 1:30PM to 6PM. Tickets: $ 20.00. Location: The Cultural Institute of Mexico, 2829 16 th Street, NW. Tickets available at the door. (Reception follows award ceremony).

Finals- July 10, 2PM-6PM, $25.00 at Corcoran Gallery of Art, Frances and Armand Hammer Auditorium, 500 17th Street, NW. Tickets available at the door.

Master Classes are scheduled as follows: All are open to the public as auditors ($10 or Free as marked). Tzvetan Konstantinov: 10:30 Saturday ($10.00); Stuart Isacoff: 9:00 AM Sunday morning (FREE) and Eric Himy: 10:30 Sunday ($10.00).

All lectures and masterclasses are held in GWU Music Department, H & 22nd NW, use elevator between H & I along 22nd at Phillips Hall, go down one flight to B1 level, use MUSIC DEPARTMENT DOOR ENTRANCE, go to ROOM B120.

FREE LECTURE SATURDAY MORNING:100 yrs of Pianism; Delights and Disasters - Donald Manildi , distinguished curator of the Int’l Piano Archives at University of Maryland, Saturday at 9:30 AM. Be there early, be prompt.

More information follows:

 Washington D.C. June 24, 2005 – The Washington International Piano Arts Council (WIPAC) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in cooperation with The George Washington University Music Department and The Cultural Institute of Mexico proudly present a truly unique and exciting international piano competition in the Washington from July 7-10, 2005. Held in spectacular venues, the four-day event will showcase the talents of 30 international outstanding amateur pianists ages from 31 years and older.

International pianists from Argentina, Mexico, Canada, and Brazil will compete for honors, distinctions, and awards in the Capital City along with a dozen American pianists from California, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia and two from Washington, DC. These are renaissance men and women who are successful in their chosen field yet find time to learn and practice their crafts for the love of music. As the Ambassador of France Jean David Levite said in his welcome letter during the April 24, 2003, 2nd Winners Grand PrixConcert …”These musicians offer the perfect illustration of artistic passion, bringing to life the first meaning of the French word “Amateur”, literally “the one who loves” and he continues… “indeed their musical fervor reveals a fascinating experience in which art and professional life are intimately intertwined.”

In cooperation with IFC, the GWU Music Department, The Cultural Institute of Mexico, and Classical 103.5 WGMS, WIPAC invites the public to celebrate the talent of these amateur pianists during their Preliminary Rounds on July 7 & 8, at the IFC Cultural Center, which has graciously offered the use of its auditorium and a Bösendorfer piano for the Third Washington International Piano Amateur Competition 2005. Since 1997, the IFC Cultural Center has been committed to bringing the world’s many cultures to Washington D.C., presenting renowned and emerging international artists in various fields of the performing arts. This season it has produced distinguished pianist Raymond Jackson, The Kusun Ensemble of Ghana and the Blind Dancers of India, to name a few.

The Semi-Final Rounds, July 9 , will be held at “Fleur de lys” Grand Salon of The Cultural Institute of Mexico, the center for Mexican arts in Washington, DC located on Adams Morgan hill, host to permanent and special exhibits and events. It is housed in the magnificent four-story Italian style mansion designed at the turn of the century by Wyeth and Fuller, the architects who designed the west wing of the White House. For many decades, it served as the Mexican Embassy until the embassy relocated to Pennsylvania Avenue in 1989 and The Cultural Institute of Mexico moved in. WIPAC has presented four winners of international competition for amateurs last April called “Winners Grand Prix Concert,” which was very well attended and received.

The Final Rounds, July 10, will be held at the prestigious Frances and Armand Hammer Auditorium of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17 th Street, NW. Located across from the south lawn of the White House, the classic beaux-arts gallery was described by Frank Lloyd Wright as the "best designed building in Washington, DC." As the oldest art museum in the nation's capital and its only college of art and design, Corcoran has a tradition of artistic excellence that dates back over 130 years. Today, the Corcoran builds on this legacy, showcasing the best in contemporary and historic art and offering the area's most comprehensive programs in fine arts education.