- Tomoki Kitamura and Ho Jeong Lee finish second and third
- Tim Höttges: „In late 2019 the 8th Beethoven Competition will ring in the 2020 celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday”
Alberto Ferro has won the International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2017 after his final performance on 9 December in front of a sold out Telekom Forum. Alberto Ferro outperformed Tomoki Kitamura and Ho Jeong Lee, winning over the nine-person jury chaired by Pavel Gililov with his interpretation of Beethoven’s Piano Concert No. 4, accompanied by the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under the direction of Dirk Kaftan. Each of the three finalists had prepared two of Beethoven’s piano concertos, and were informed of the piece to be performed in the final immediately following the semi-final round on 7 December.
“I certainly did not expect to win this distinguished competition. I can hardly describe my feelings at the moment,” said winner Alberto Ferro. “I feel very honored to have won, especially with my favorite concerto, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4. And I’m particularly honored to have been selected best finalist by the audience members.”
“The goal of our competition is to discover outstanding artists with the ability to express Beethoven’s work in special ways,” said Pavel Gililov, the competition’s jury chairmain and artistic director. I am extremely pleased with the performance of all the competitors, especially with our prize winners. Each of them is a mature artists with their own special character. Throughout the entire competition, Alberto Ferro demonstrated incredible versatility, intensity and perfection. He won the competition convincingly and is truly worthy of any support and recognition he receives.”
“We once again had the pleasure of a thrilling competition and a top-class finale. I would like to thank all competitors and congratulate this year’s prize winners for their extraordinary achievement. All of them help keep the extraordinary beauty and brilliance of Beethoven’s work alive,” said Tim Höttges, Chairman of the Organization Committee and Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Telekom. “In late 2019 we will host the 8th Beethoven Competition to ring in the 2020 celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday, which will include additional performances and events commemorating the life and legacy of one of history's most important composers.”
The winner of the 2017 International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn receives €30,000 in prize money, the second-place finisher €20,000, and third-place finisher €10,000. As the winner of this year’s competition, Alberto Ferro will perform as part of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn’s “BeethovenNacht” concert on 16 December at 7 pm in the Bonn Opera House. He will also play a concert tour with Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor (op. 25) together with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, under the direction of Prof. Heribert Beissel. In addition, Alberto Ferro received €3,000 in prize money as winner of the audience voting for Best Final-Round Performance.
Brief profiles of the competition finalists and other competitors and additional information (including news, photo gallery and media library) is available at https://www.telekom-beethoven-competition.de/en
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