Another Prize for Micah
Micah
THE COMPETITION took place in the castle of Ettlingen, Germany.
Two hundred and sixty-seven young pianists from 41 nations applied. One hundred and eight were admitted to perform over the ten-day period of August 5–15. And history was made by awarding the top two prizes in the younger category to pianists from the United States—one of whom was 15-year-old Charleston native, Micah McLaurin.
The biennial Ettlingen International Piano Competition, one of the most prestigious in the world for pianists under 20, began in 1988 and counts among its winners megastars Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Lisa de la Salle, and Boris Giltburg.
Eric Lu, a student at the New England Preparatory School in Boston, was this year’s winner. Micah took second place. He received a check for 1,000 Euros and was invited to give a recital in Germany next year.
Micah’s program included a Chopin Etude and sonatas by Haydn and Rachmaninoff—which you may have heard him play at the Sottile last year (read our previous story here).
Earlier this summer, Micah—a scholarship student of Enrique Graf at the Charleston Academy of Music—won the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition at the University of South Carolina’s Southeastern Piano Festival. He also played recitals at Music Fest Perugia in Italy.
