Jung + Piano

During the XIII Week of Germany festival in St Petersburg there will be a screening of the documentary film Jung + Piano / Piano Grand Prix der Pianisten by German filmmaker Oliver Gieth. The director, who followed the competition’s participants for six months, presents the audience with a unique opportunity to discover the atmosphere of artistic competitiveness and see into the work of TONALi, one of the most demanding competitions for young musicians in Europe. Its organisers manage not only to present prizes for the achievements of highly talented young soloists, but also to introduce a huge number of schoolchildren to classical music.
Experience of actively attracting a young audience was also of interest to the Mariinsky Theatre. In partnership with TONALi and with the friendly support of the Culture Committee of Hamburg in St Petersburg, the 2015–2016 season saw the start of the educational project Sounds of Change. The main character in the documentary film was to be the winner of the piano competition in 2013 – Elisabeth Brauß. From childhood, the young pianist has taken part in various music competitions, time and again winning in both solo and ensemble categories. Thanks to close collaboration between the TONALi competition and the Mariinsky Theatre, begun in 2014, Elisabeth Brauß has performed at the chamber Prokofiev Hall as part of the joint subscription series Music Hour of Prize-Winners of the TONALi Competition (Hamburg). After the film screening there will be a brief recital by Elisabeth Brauß in which the young pianist will perform works by Haydn, Liszt and Chopin.
In a concluding talk, director Oliver Gieth and the TONALi project’s initiators Boris Matchin and Amadeus Templeton will answer questions from anyone interested.