Who will be the new “Stella d’oro” of music?

Tonight at the Rinnovati theatre the challenge to win the born-again “Premio Chigiana” between Ella van Poucke and Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev will take place

Siena and the world of classic music celebrate the rebirth of the “Premio Chigiana”. Tonight, at 9:15 p.m at the Rinnovati theatre, the first place and the second one will be chosen. There will be a challenge between the Dutch cellist, Ella van Poucke and the Russian pianist Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev.

Founded in 1982, until 2010, the award institutionally addressed young but well-known piano and violin soloists (with few exceptions), chosen by a panel of judges composed of prominent representatives of international music journalism and of the artistic director of the “Accademia Chigiana”.

The prize consisted in a significant amount of money as well as a sculpture made of silver, by Fritz König, an important contemporary artist, famous for the World Trade Center monument in New York. Among the winners of the prize, some of the most important names of the concert world are included.

The new “premio Chigiana”, on the contrary, has a different formula, because it addresses emerging artists, not internationally well-known. The winner will obtain 12 thousand Euros, while the second place will win 8 thousand Euros. The possible winners were identified and collected in three locations: Moscow, Brussels and New York where they were tested. The two finalists will face each other tonight and just after the concert, it will be known who will win the Award “Stella d’oro” (golden star). This year, Chigiana festival has dealt with solo instruments such as piano, violin, viola and cello. Next year edition, instead, will be addressed to woodwind instruments, to singers and to ancient music performers.

At the Rinnovati theatre, Ella van Poucke and Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev will perform a solo as well as a piece with the “orchestra Regionale della Toscana”, directed by Jonathan Stockhammer. Andrea Severi will accompany with his piano the Dutch cellist.

The choice of the two finalists was very difficult to make, due to the high level of all the participants in the “Premio Chigiana”. Ella van Poucke, 23, is already known in Netherlands and she often performs abroad. Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev, 24, is the heir of an important Russian piano family. He is a rising star of piano; in fact he will make a record with Decca Classics.

The panel of judges, who will assign the “Premio Chigiana”, will be composed by Nicola Sani, the artistic Director of the Accademia Chigiana, Cesare Mancini, Paolo Petrocelli, Alexander Romanovsky, Marco Riaskoff, Boris Belkin, Pierangelo Conte and Fedra Florit.

Just tonight, it will be known who will be the new “Stella d’oro” in the 3rd millennium universe of music.

Emilio Mariotti
(Traduzione in inglese di Giulia Staggini)