Organizers, pianists gear up for Bachauer competition

At the moment, everyone at the Gina Bachauer Foundation is frantically gearing up for a madcap two weeks of competition, as the junior and young artists competition levels are set to start Monday.

And while Paul Pollei and his staff put the finishing touches on preparations and make sure everything is in place, young pianists from around the world have slowly converged on Salt Lake City, hoping their talent and artistry will land them a coveted first-place win.

And winning a youth competition can, and often is, a springboard for future competitions as a young adult and also for a successful professional career.

"We develop artists out of our junior and young artists competitions," said Pollei, founder and artistic director of the Gina Bachauer Foundation. "You'd be amazed to know how many have gone on from here to other competitions and on to major careers."

The Bachauer Foundation also holds the major Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition and Festival every four years. The next festival is scheduled for 2010.

Among Bachauer alumni, Hong Xu, who won in 2001, is a doctoral candidate at the Juilliard School. He recently performed Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Others have won major international competitions, including the Montreal Piano Competition.

But without question, the most famous Bachauer winner was Yundi Li, who took first prize in the young artists competition in 1999, and then followed up that win with a gold medal at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. He's now an international star with a lucrative recording deal with DG.

This year, Pollei is doing things a little differently. In the past, the junior and young artists competitions have been held in successive years. This year, however, they take place back to back in the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. The junior competition (for ages 11-13) begins Monday and runs through Saturday. The young artists competition (for 14- to 18-year-olds) runs June 23-28.

The reason behind Pollei's decision to go with this dual format is simple economics. "There's the economy of using one jury for both," he said, adding that this is a pattern followed by several other competitions.

While it may be fiscally prudent to do it this way, it's been a burden on everybody involved in arranging it. "It's trying to have back-to-back competitions," Pollei said, "but I think it's going to work out really well."