The History of the William Kapell Competition
The Early Years, 1971-1978
The William Kapell International Piano Competition and Festival had its beginnings in the annual Matthay Festivals that were held on the campus of the University of Maryland at College Park each summer between 1965 and 1970. These festivals, devoted to espousing the ideas of the great English pedagogue Tobias Matthay, featured workshops, lecture recitals by respected piano teachers, and recitals by mostly young, relatively unknown pianists. In 1970, Dr. Stewart Gordon, then chairman of the piano division in the University’s Department of Music, proposed expanding the Matthay Festival to include an international piano competition. He believed that it would establish the University as an international center for the Performing Arts and would attract leading pianists from around the world to the College Park campus. Under the sponsorship of the Office of Summer Programs, the University of Maryland International Piano Festival and Competition was born. In its expanded format, the 1971 Festival offered evening recitals and master classes by internationally known artists and a lecture recital series by the University’s piano faculty. The first Competition, offering $4,000 in prize money, attracted a modest response. Although the quality of the contestants was uneven, the panel of five judges from the United States identified several noteworthy talents and awarded a First Prize to Mark Westcott and a Second Prize to Diane Walsh. They also recognized a promising young student with abundant talent—Emanuel Ax. The success of the Festival and Competition established the event in the cultural life of the greater Washington-Baltimore region. Media recognition came quickly in the form of several major articles which appeared in leading piano journals, and for a number of years, the Music Critics Association held their annual meeting in conjunction with the Festival. In 1974, National Public Radio recorded many of the Festival events and Voice of America began broadcasting the Competition Finals. In 1976, concerto repertoire was added to the Competition Finals and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s participation added a greater aura of excitement to the event. Following the 1978 Festival, Stewart Gordon stepped down from his position as director, and the Festival and Competition began the second phase of development.
Years of Growth, 1979-1985
The 1979 Festival and Competition was marked by a number of changes that indicated arrival at a new level of prestige. With Dr. Gordon’s departure, Fernando Laires, then Professor of Piano at The Peabody Institute, became Festival Director. To celebrate this new phase of growth, a new work for piano was commissioned from Lawrence Moss, the University’s composer-in-residence, which all semi-finalists were required to perform. Thus began a practice of commissioning new works which continued through 1988. Among the noted commissioned composers have been John Cage, Henri Dutilleux, George Perle, Vincent Persichetti and Ned Rorem. At this time, the Friends of the Institute, which soon became Friends of the Rossborough, helped to make this growth possible through their generous dedication and financial investments. In 1980, the international stature of the Competition was formally recognized with the admission of the Competition to the Federation of International Music Competitions based in Geneva, Switzerland. Following the Van Cliburn Competition by three years, Maryland became the second American competition to join the Federation whose members include all of the leading music competitions of the world. Stewart Gordon returned to the post of Festival Director in 1982. Competition prize money rose to the forefront of international competitions and the number and quality of applicants continued to grow. At the conclusion of the 1985 Festival, Dr. Gordon announced his retirement from the University. He was succeeded by Eugene Istomin, who was appointed to the position of artistic director in the fall of 1985.
The Istomin-Lipkin Years, 1986-1992
Upon his appointment, Mr. Istomin suggested that the name of the Competition be changed to honor the great American pianist William Kapell, whose life ended tragically at the age of thirty-one in a 1953 plane crash. The International Piano Archives proudly displayed its new William Kapell collection in conjunction with a symposium on Kapell in which Istomin, Leon Fleisher, Abram Chasins, Gary Graffman, and Anna Lou Dehavenon, Ph.D. delighted the audience with anecdotes and memories of the great pianist’s life. Following the 1987 Festival and Competition, Eugene Istomin left the position of artistic director, and Seymour Lipkin stepped into the position of artistic leadership and served through 1992. Under his guidance the Festival and Competition continued to be an annual cultural highlight for the University and surrounding community, as well as for those from around the world who travel to College Park to take part in this special week. Most notably, the Competition truly became recognized as a major international event that awards over $50,000 in prizes and attracts the finest young pianists in the world. The Competition finals were expanded in 1988 to include a recital phase in addition to the concerto phase. National interest in the Competition was marked perhaps most notably by a front-cover color feature article in the Sunday Chicago Tribune on the 1988 Competition.
The Clarice Smith Center Years, 2003-2012
Under the leadership of Director George Moquin, in 1998 the Kapell Competition adopted a quadrennial format similar to other major international piano competitions. After many years of hard work and inspired leadership, Mr. Moquin retired and the Kapell came under the management of the University’s new Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center where it was presented for the first time in 2003. The Kapell also was charged with a refreshed purpose: to nurture artistic development in pianists, foster cultural understanding of the piano’s important role in society, and generate enthusiasm for the rich diversity of piano music. And in a fitting turn of events, the Kapell’s first year at the Center corresponded with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Competition. In recognition of its founding, Stewart Gordon returned as International Jury Chair, and in recognition of William Kapell, the International Piano Archives at Maryland presented a retrospective on his life. Dr. Jarl Hulbert, Assistant Competition Coordinator in 2003 and Competition Coordinator in 2007 and 2012, introduced a number of innovations to the Competition, including the introduction of a chamber round during the semi-finals and the creation of a Youth Competition in 2012. In recognition of William Kapell’s mission to promote American works, a compulsory American composition was also introduced, and audience involvement was enhanced with the introduction of a semi-final round Volunteer Jury, which gave competition patrons a deeper opportunity to engage.
The Discontinuation of the Kapell Competition
To the disappointment of the Kapell Competition’s many supporters, the Clarice Smith Center discontinued the Kapell Competition in 2013. The cancellation of this historic and world-renowned event stopped an important avenue for the promotion of the piano and its culture in the Washington-Baltimore region. It is now up to other organizations and events to pick up the torch and bring events to the region that generate the enthusiasm for the piano that the Kapell Competition and Festival and successfully generated for many years.
Looking Ahead, 2015 and Beyond: The William Knabe Piano Institute and Competition
With the support of the Knabe Piano Company, ARTIST Music Center, and other important partners, Dr. Jarl Hulbert, formerly Kapell Competition Coordinator, has spearheaded an effort to establish a piano institute and competition designed to take over the mission of the Kapell Competition. William Knabe, who served the music community of Maryland (and the rest of the country) with a world-class piano factory in downtown Baltimore, perfectly represents the mission of the new institute: to promote the heritage of the piano and piano performance in the mid-Atlantic region, and to promote the value of the piano and piano performance in its many forms in today’s culture. The new Knabe Institute and Competition's 4-year establishment plan begins in 2016 with a youth competition that will award over $1,500 in prize money to local piano students.
The William Kapell International Piano Competition and Festival had its beginnings in the annual Matthay Festivals that were held on the campus of the University of Maryland at College Park each summer between 1965 and 1970. These festivals, devoted to espousing the ideas of the great English pedagogue Tobias Matthay, featured workshops, lecture recitals by respected piano teachers, and recitals by mostly young, relatively unknown pianists. In 1970, Dr. Stewart Gordon, then chairman of the piano division in the University’s Department of Music, proposed expanding the Matthay Festival to include an international piano competition. He believed that it would establish the University as an international center for the Performing Arts and would attract leading pianists from around the world to the College Park campus. Under the sponsorship of the Office of Summer Programs, the University of Maryland International Piano Festival and Competition was born. In its expanded format, the 1971 Festival offered evening recitals and master classes by internationally known artists and a lecture recital series by the University’s piano faculty. The first Competition, offering $4,000 in prize money, attracted a modest response. Although the quality of the contestants was uneven, the panel of five judges from the United States identified several noteworthy talents and awarded a First Prize to Mark Westcott and a Second Prize to Diane Walsh. They also recognized a promising young student with abundant talent—Emanuel Ax. The success of the Festival and Competition established the event in the cultural life of the greater Washington-Baltimore region. Media recognition came quickly in the form of several major articles which appeared in leading piano journals, and for a number of years, the Music Critics Association held their annual meeting in conjunction with the Festival. In 1974, National Public Radio recorded many of the Festival events and Voice of America began broadcasting the Competition Finals. In 1976, concerto repertoire was added to the Competition Finals and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s participation added a greater aura of excitement to the event. Following the 1978 Festival, Stewart Gordon stepped down from his position as director, and the Festival and Competition began the second phase of development.
Years of Growth, 1979-1985
The 1979 Festival and Competition was marked by a number of changes that indicated arrival at a new level of prestige. With Dr. Gordon’s departure, Fernando Laires, then Professor of Piano at The Peabody Institute, became Festival Director. To celebrate this new phase of growth, a new work for piano was commissioned from Lawrence Moss, the University’s composer-in-residence, which all semi-finalists were required to perform. Thus began a practice of commissioning new works which continued through 1988. Among the noted commissioned composers have been John Cage, Henri Dutilleux, George Perle, Vincent Persichetti and Ned Rorem. At this time, the Friends of the Institute, which soon became Friends of the Rossborough, helped to make this growth possible through their generous dedication and financial investments. In 1980, the international stature of the Competition was formally recognized with the admission of the Competition to the Federation of International Music Competitions based in Geneva, Switzerland. Following the Van Cliburn Competition by three years, Maryland became the second American competition to join the Federation whose members include all of the leading music competitions of the world. Stewart Gordon returned to the post of Festival Director in 1982. Competition prize money rose to the forefront of international competitions and the number and quality of applicants continued to grow. At the conclusion of the 1985 Festival, Dr. Gordon announced his retirement from the University. He was succeeded by Eugene Istomin, who was appointed to the position of artistic director in the fall of 1985.
The Istomin-Lipkin Years, 1986-1992
Upon his appointment, Mr. Istomin suggested that the name of the Competition be changed to honor the great American pianist William Kapell, whose life ended tragically at the age of thirty-one in a 1953 plane crash. The International Piano Archives proudly displayed its new William Kapell collection in conjunction with a symposium on Kapell in which Istomin, Leon Fleisher, Abram Chasins, Gary Graffman, and Anna Lou Dehavenon, Ph.D. delighted the audience with anecdotes and memories of the great pianist’s life. Following the 1987 Festival and Competition, Eugene Istomin left the position of artistic director, and Seymour Lipkin stepped into the position of artistic leadership and served through 1992. Under his guidance the Festival and Competition continued to be an annual cultural highlight for the University and surrounding community, as well as for those from around the world who travel to College Park to take part in this special week. Most notably, the Competition truly became recognized as a major international event that awards over $50,000 in prizes and attracts the finest young pianists in the world. The Competition finals were expanded in 1988 to include a recital phase in addition to the concerto phase. National interest in the Competition was marked perhaps most notably by a front-cover color feature article in the Sunday Chicago Tribune on the 1988 Competition.
The Clarice Smith Center Years, 2003-2012
Under the leadership of Director George Moquin, in 1998 the Kapell Competition adopted a quadrennial format similar to other major international piano competitions. After many years of hard work and inspired leadership, Mr. Moquin retired and the Kapell came under the management of the University’s new Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center where it was presented for the first time in 2003. The Kapell also was charged with a refreshed purpose: to nurture artistic development in pianists, foster cultural understanding of the piano’s important role in society, and generate enthusiasm for the rich diversity of piano music. And in a fitting turn of events, the Kapell’s first year at the Center corresponded with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Competition. In recognition of its founding, Stewart Gordon returned as International Jury Chair, and in recognition of William Kapell, the International Piano Archives at Maryland presented a retrospective on his life. Dr. Jarl Hulbert, Assistant Competition Coordinator in 2003 and Competition Coordinator in 2007 and 2012, introduced a number of innovations to the Competition, including the introduction of a chamber round during the semi-finals and the creation of a Youth Competition in 2012. In recognition of William Kapell’s mission to promote American works, a compulsory American composition was also introduced, and audience involvement was enhanced with the introduction of a semi-final round Volunteer Jury, which gave competition patrons a deeper opportunity to engage.
The Discontinuation of the Kapell Competition
To the disappointment of the Kapell Competition’s many supporters, the Clarice Smith Center discontinued the Kapell Competition in 2013. The cancellation of this historic and world-renowned event stopped an important avenue for the promotion of the piano and its culture in the Washington-Baltimore region. It is now up to other organizations and events to pick up the torch and bring events to the region that generate the enthusiasm for the piano that the Kapell Competition and Festival and successfully generated for many years.
Looking Ahead, 2015 and Beyond: The William Knabe Piano Institute and Competition
With the support of the Knabe Piano Company, ARTIST Music Center, and other important partners, Dr. Jarl Hulbert, formerly Kapell Competition Coordinator, has spearheaded an effort to establish a piano institute and competition designed to take over the mission of the Kapell Competition. William Knabe, who served the music community of Maryland (and the rest of the country) with a world-class piano factory in downtown Baltimore, perfectly represents the mission of the new institute: to promote the heritage of the piano and piano performance in the mid-Atlantic region, and to promote the value of the piano and piano performance in its many forms in today’s culture. The new Knabe Institute and Competition's 4-year establishment plan begins in 2016 with a youth competition that will award over $1,500 in prize money to local piano students.
List of Kapell Competition Winners:
Contact1-888-978-5332 Ext. 4
info@knabeinstitute.org |
|