On 23–26 May, the European Foundation for Support of Culture and the Catholic University of America (Washington, DC) held the American International Piano Festival and Competition in Washington DC, the US capital.
Washington, a city that symbolises American statehood, was named after the first US President George Washington. Officious and majestic, with wide avenues, green boulevards that stretch for miles, and with legendary monuments, this city embodies Americans’ dreams of freedom and justice. It houses the main US administrative and government buildings: the White House, Congress (the Capitol), the Department of Defense (the Pentagon) and the buildings of the Supreme Court, the Department of State and other influential organisations.
Nikita Fitenko (Russia/US) is the artistic director of the American International Piano Festival and Competition; Prof. Fitenko is a renowned pianist, Chair of the Department of Music Performance at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama and Art (The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC), Yamaha Performer and artistic director of many piano festivals.
The festival was held at Washington’s most prestigious halls; it featured popular American and European orchestras and world-famous classical musicians. They performed works by George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Scott Joplin, as well as works by modern Maltese and European composers.
The Piano Competition Jury included such grandees of the classical music world as Joel Harrison (US), President and CEO of the American Pianists Association; Douglas Humpherys, Steinway and Sons Performer, artistic director of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation; the pianist Yong Hi Moon, Professor at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University; and Nikita Fitenko, artistic director of the American International Piano Festival and Competition.
The competition had a total prize fund of €17,000.