Atterbury Piano Competition

Last month, the 14 year old pianist, Qden Blaauw, added another award to his long list of achievements, when he became the overall winner at the Atterbury National Piano Competition.

He impressed the judges with his rendition of Chopin’s ‘Ballade no. 3 in A minor’ and Rachmaninoff’s ‘Preludes op. 23, numbers 6 and 7’.

He was chosen as the overall winner after winning in several categories, which include the Joseph Stanford prize for best performance of a romantic work, the Stephen Allen prize for a baroque piece, and the Tanya Tosen prize for the best performance of a classical work.

He was also chosen as the winner of the ’15 years and younger’ category.

The competition is held annually and competitors are selected from a large pool of applicants from across the country.

This year, Qden had to compete against a record 49 young pianists and as the overall winner, walked away with R35000 in prize money.

The young pianist has had a busy few years, racking up the medals and impressing audiences with his amazing renditions of the most beloved classical works.

Earlier this year, he performed as a soloist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra in the Cape Town City Hall, and participated in the Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy Masterclasses in Cape Town.

He was one of six international young prodigies who had daily masterclasses and who performed in three concerts, including one at the Woordfees in Stellenbosch.

Last year, he won third prize at the 2018 Hennie Joubert Piano Competition, first prize in the junior category of the Johann Vos Music Competition and second prize in the National Youth Music Competition.

He also performed in the 2018 Suidoosterfees where he was awarded a trophy for best classical performance.

In March 2018 he was invited to Saarlouis, Germany, where he performed in three concerts including a concerto performance with the German Police Orchestra.

He came to national prominence in 2016 where, as a young 12 year old protégé, he won the prestigious Samro Hubert van der Spuy National Music Competition.