Tickets:
$15 general admission, $10 for those 60 and older, $7 for youth and $5 for university employees and students.
Tickets can be purchased at the Emens box office.
An international piano competition will hold auditions here in Muncie, one of four stops around the world and the only one in North America.
Auditions for the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition will take place Nov. 13 through Nov. 15 at Sursa Hall, according to a Ball State news release.
Robert Palmer, piano professor in the School of Music, met Frank Wibaut, the artistic director of the competition, in summer 2014 when both were on the faculty for a summer music festival.
“We quickly became fast friends and toward the end of that festival, he invited me to serve on the jury for the 2015 Hastings Competition, which occurred this past spring,” Palmer said.
Wibaut had planned to take the auditions for the 2016 competition around the world, and he wanted to bring them somewhere in North America.
Palmer suggested hosting them in Muncie, as it is a central location and easily accessible for both the East and West Coasts.
The competition is in its 12th year and is considered to be one of the most prestigious competitions in Europe, Palmer said.
“It has risen in stature throughout its relative youth,” Palmer said. “It’s an annual competition and it truly gets bigger and better each year, meaning more and more entrants and a higher level of playing.”
Palmer said the auditions for the competition have attracted 29 pianists from across the U.S. and Canada.
“Of course all of these pianists are very talented, they’ve all worked for years because they started playing the piano at a very young age,” Palmer said.
One of the pianists auditioning is Soojin Kim, who graduated in spring 2015 and received her artist diploma. She said the auditions will be a good chance to improve her talent.
“I wanted to get more international experience. Also, I hope to grow more as a pianist,” Kim said, “It is always wonderful to have the opportunity to perform in public.”
Palmer said people should attend the auditions this weekend because it is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear a variety of artists.
“This is a rare opportunity to hear some of the most talented young pianists in the U.S. and Canada and it is right here on the Ball State campus,” Palmer said.
Ball State is the second stop for the auditions, the first being Tokyo. The auditions will also take place in London and Hamburg, Germany. Once the preliminary auditions are finished, the finalists will be announced, Palmer said.
The winner of the competition, which is taking place in Hastings, England from February 25 to March 5, will receive 10,000 British pounds, equivalent to about $15,000. They will also have the opportunity to perform with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the competition's website said.
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