The Final Round

Written by guest contributor Joe David

The ornate, French-style grand ballroom of the Cosmos Club came alive with music last Sunday; it was the piano music of some of the world’s greatest masters – Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, and more. For over three hours, the ballroom filled with beautiful sonatas, nocturnes, rhapsodies, interpreted by six talented, amateur pianists. Each of these finalists performed their music with peak skill in hopes of winning one of the three top prizes provided by Washington International Piano Arts Council (WIPAC). For three days, leading up to the Sunday events, 23 talented aspiring winners from around the world competed for the grand prize. Of the 23, only six were selected for the final round on Sunday at the Cosmos Club.

The Festival of Music 2017, which has become an annual WIPAC event in Washington for the past fifteen years, has been providing new opportunity for talented pianists from around the world with dreams of bringing their music to the American stage. “Considerable time has been dedicated to preparing for each festival, but the results have always been well worth it,” Clayton Eisinger, WIPAC president, said. “Thanks to the hard work of Chateau and John Gardecki, the annual festival has been enhancing the lives of our community since inception by bringing joy to its participants and its many attendees.”