The Belgian pianist Valère Burnon has qualified for the final of the Queen Elisabeth Competition. He is among 12 finalists that were selected for the final of the prestigious music competition.
On Saturday evening, 12 pianists were selected from the 24 semi-finalists, among them was Valère Burnon. A total of 7 men and 7 women will compete against each other in the final.
In addition to Valère Burnon, the final includes 4 Japanese pianists, Wataru Hisasue, Masaya Kamei, Shiori Kuwahara and Yuki Yoshimi, the American Rachel Breen, Arthur Hinnewinkel, Nathalia Milstein and Mirabelle Kajenjeri from France, Nikola Meeuwsen from the Netherlands, the Chinese pianist Jiaxin Min and the Russian Sergej Tanin.
Music for the Heart
For the next 2 weeks the 12 musicians will stay at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo (Walloon Brabant), where they will be able to rehearse an unpublished work without any outside assistance. The piece ‘Music for the Heart’, was composed especially for the final by the Belgian composer Kris Defoort.
The final of the Queen Elisabeth Competition will take place from 26 to 31 May at the Palace of Fine Arts (Bozar) in Brussels. Each finalist will perform the compulsory and a concerto of their own choosing with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kazushi Ono. The winner will be announced after the final performance at midnight on Sunday 31 May.