May 2012

Every three years or so, I get an urge to enter a piano competition. I don’t know what the motivation is, really. Competitions get the blood pressure going, require countless hours of practice and I also put a lot of personal pressure on myself. So why bother? I’m not sure. The amateur piano “scene” has been growing rapidly, even from when I began in 2006. People are rediscovering their talent where there was no opportunity to do so before. The professional world is so cut-throat, it makes even the most seasoned professional pianist cringe. Professional competitions are career-builders, which is why the amateur world is so less competitive, because people already have a career.

I was hoping to enter the Berlin competition where the prize was to perform a concerto at the Philharminoker Hall, but this competition had to fold because of financial constraints. Hopefully it will return some day. Just as I was dejected there came another opportunity: the Chicago Amateur Piano Competition. There was a concerto competition category, where you had to learn one movement of a particular concerto listed on the website. The prize was to peform at Chicago’s Symphony Hall with the Chicago Youth Orchestra. One of the pieces was the Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1, which I learned when I was 19 years old. I took it to the National Music Festival but I never did get the chance to play it with an orchestra, so it sounded like a perfect opportunity.

The competition was well-put together, with welcome packages and plenty of practice studios at Roosevelt University. The preliminary round was to be in this little room at the Fine Arts Building with two full concert grands (the piano I was to play was a Fazioli). Needless to say, the piano was very loud for the room, but it seemed to be perfect for Tchaikovsky. Many competitors were playing the Tchaik (about half of us) so it would have been a long morning I assumed for the jury.

I played quite well for this round, and walked off the stage proudly. All you ever wish to do in these situations is play your best, and you never have to concern yourself with the results. So I went and hung out by the big Chicago bean, sweating through my dress shirt. By my calculations I was thinking that they would probably take only two of the Tchaik performances because there would be six finalists and I assumed that all concerti would be represented.

Turns out I was right, and I was super happy and relieved to see my name as one of the finalists. It was a celebration because I knew that in two days I would be playing at the incredible Symphony Hall. Moreover, the host of the night would be none other than David Hyde Pierce (who played Niles in the sitcom Frasier)!

I was so excited about the finals, until I found out the order of the performances. I drew first on the program, and I immediately counted myself out. I know I shouldn’t have done that, but it is difficult to play first and expect to win, especially with the talent that was there. It made me recall an experience I had a long time ago when I played first out of a long competition. The adjudicator flat out said ‘I don’t actually remember how you played’.

I decided soon after that I would enjoy Chicago to the best that I could, instead of sitting in a practice room. It was a risky decision but I was happy I did so, because this city is quite amazing. The improv comedy at IO theater was the best I had ever seen, and the architectural boat cruise was a great time. In the end I actually just made it to the final round with about 10 minutes to go. I realize that was a bit of a mistake because I found myself very quickly having to transform into competition mode. Here is a picture from the boat tour:

After a few minutes of fast stretching it was time to play. Walking on stage was exhilarating. The scene was one that I played in my head as a child many times: seeing the orchestra on your left, and the audience on your right, and you have the best seat in the house. The performance was a bit of a blur. I admit that by counting myself out of the running, I did make a couple of small unexpected mistakes. They weren’t too noticeable but it was enough for me to have a chuckle to myself. I told myself to start enjoying the experience and soon the performance took on a breath of fresh air, and I was overall very happy with my playing.

After all the incredible performances, I then headed backstage while the jury deliberated. To my surprise, David Hyde Pierce was standing there! I immediately said to him “Mr. Hyde Pierce I am a big fan” to which he replied “Dr. Yu, so am I”. It was one of the most memorable moments for me, and worth the entire trip. We talked for a while about everything from medicine to steaks, until it was time to hear the results.

“In third place, is…”

For some reason I felt like my name was going to be called. I realized that if I could get third place with the way I performed and the timing of when I played, it would be a personal victory.

“Thomas Yu”.
I was happy. Very happy to walk back on that beautiful stage to accept a medal. I felt like my experience was really positive and motivating at the same time. I knew at that moment that I wanted to get back into competing because of the thrill and unique opportunities it brought with this competition. My memory of it will remain with me for a very long time, and I thank Thomas Zoells, Rhapsody Snyder and the entire team for putting together a successful competition for years to come. Congratulations also to Michael Slavin and Majestic Tam for their outstanding performances.

One of the other biggest highlights for me was to meet one of the jury members, Marc Andre Hamelin. He is one of Canada’s greatest pianists and also one of my heroes. We spent a long time at the end of the competition talking about music in today’s world. He was in fact most interested to know that I had a couple of Michael Jackson renditions on YouTube. He told me that his most popular video was Circus Galop, where he wasn’t even playing. It’s strange to see what people like to see and what they choose to look over. Anyways, it was a huge honour to spend time with him, and wow what an experience in Chicago.