Heida Hermmanns International Voice Competition

 Connecticut Alliance for Music Presents Two-Day 2010 Heida Hermanns International Voice Competition

Gifted vocalists -- poised to begin their international concert careers -- will compete at the 2010 Heida Hermanns International Voice Competition sponsored by Connecticut Alliance for Music on Saturday, Dec. 4, and Sunday, Dec. 5, at Westport Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Ave. in Westport. 

The opportunity to hear an international array of talented vocalists is a gift to the town of Westport courtesy of the late Hermanns (1906-1995). Her legacy, the Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, supports numerous music and arts events throughout this area.  

Hermanns was a critically acclaimed piano recitalist and concert soloist. A German-born musician, she made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic when she was 18 and toured Europe as a recitalist and concerto soloist through the 1920s and 1930s.  In 1931, she immigrated to the United States with her husband, Artur Holde, a music critic, author and composer.  During the 1940s, the couple made their home in Westport and Heida served as a community leader, dedicated to promoting the arts and sharing her love of music. 

Herrmann delighted in musical performances of all types. She founded Connecticut Alliance of Music in 1973. Her vision of creating a way to spotlight talented young musicians came to fruition with the founding of the Performers of Connecticut Young Artists Competition, later renamed in her memory. Though the competitions initially were for the categories of strings, woodwinds, voice and piano -- which alternated every four years -- the event has evolved to become an annual competition that alternates bi-annually for pianists and singers.

The bi-annual competitions consistently attract contestants of the highest caliber from all over the world.

On Saturday, Dec. 4, 16 competitors ranging in age from19 to 35 years old, will vie from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Westport Town Hall.  Each of the competitors will be required to give a 20-minute performance before a panel of distinguished judges.  These performances, free and open to the public, offer the opportunity for music lovers of all ages to share the challenging experience of musicians competing for the next step, being selected as one of six finalists for the Finals Concert to be held on Sunday.

During the Sunday concert, the finalists will each perform a program selected by the judges to demonstrate musical virtuosity and skill.  At the conclusion of the performances, the audience will be invited to a festive reception while the judges make decisions  for the cash prizes of $10,000 to be awarded to the winners.  Tickets for the Finals Concert are $20 (18 years and under are free), and are available by calling CAM at (203) 319-8271 or at the door.

The Heida Hermanns International Competition has enhanced the careers of an impressive number of today's internationally acclaimed musical stars. Former competition winners include baritones Christopheren Nomura and Richard Lalli, clarinetists Igor Begelman, Charles Neidich and Todd Palmer, saxophonist Otis Murphy, pianists Frederic Chiu, Andrew Armstrong, Max Levinson, and Christopher O'Reilly.

A concert pianist, Chiu won this international competition in 1986 while attending Julliard. He has since achieved  the recognition of critics and audiences around the world. He will next perform at New York's Metropolitan Museum in January. "Winning the competition was an honor and it was great morale boost," he recalls. "At the time, I was living in New York City and felt like a small fish in a big pond. It was nice to enjoy success on the East Coast. "

The Westport competition is very well run, he adds. "There was personal touch in this competition that made it very special. Some competitions have a 'cattle-call' feel about them, but this was much more pleasant."  Coincidentally, Chiu made Westport his home seven years ago.

Now with more than 20 CDs on the market, Chiu has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Kioi and Suntory Halls in Tokyo, Lincoln Center in New York and Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. His musical partners include Joshua Bell, Pierre Amoyal, Elmar Oliveira, Gary Hoffman, David Krakauer, Matt Haimovitz and the St. Lawrence, Shanghai and Daedalus string quartets.

He has been singled out for a variety of honors, including "Record of the Year" by Stereo Review, "Top 10 recordings" by the New Yorker and rave reviews from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

He has toured in Europe and the U.S. with the Orchestre de Bretagne and Stefan Sanderling. He has played with the Hartford Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra, Estonia National Symphony, China National Symphony, among others. In recital he performs in the world's most prestigious halls

The competition also helped to support the education of Armstrong. "The Heida Hermanns Competition gave me a great jolt of encouragement as well as contributing financially to my dream of attending Columbia College in New York City," he said. "I will always be grateful to CAM for all they do for young musicians."

Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, Armstrong has delighted audiences around the world. He has performed solo recitals and appeared with orchestras in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw's National Philharmonic. He has performed with such conductors as Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and in chamber music with the Alexander, American, and Manhattan String Quartets, as a member of the Caramoor Virtuosi at the Caramoor International Music Festival, and as a member of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players in New York City.