From an interview by The SMFA OPUS magazine (Vol. 52 No. 3), in the spring of 2006. Enjoy!

1. What made you decide to enter this particular competition? Have you done other amateur comeptitions like this before?
- I recently competed in the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Poland. My experience there was very positive, but I realized that it took a trememdous amount of dedication (and luck) to become a professional pianist. With my schedule, I began to question my commitment to this lifestyle. I decided then to give an amateur competition a try, just to gauge myself with others who have lives outside of music. The Paris competition is the best known, becoming the model for other competitions such as the Van Cliburn Competition for Outstanding Piano Amateurs.

2. When did your preparation start for this?
- I brought some of my strongest pieces to Paris. These pieces have been with me for a long time, though I hadn’t touched some of them for many years. One was the Sonate by Henri Dutilleux. It was a gamble for me to bring a French piece to Paris, but it definitely paid off!

3. What is the process that one follows to get in?
- There were 100 competitors accepted from 30 countries. Top level competitors came from all walks of life - doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. The only criteria is that you could not be a professional musician, but many competitors had previous music degrees and formal training. There were 3 rounds, with the semifinals at Le Sorbonne and the finals at the prestigious La Salle Gaveau. The finals were broadcast on Radio Classique and France 2 television, which aired it to 4 million homes across Europe.

4. Did you have a teacher/coach through this or did you do it on your own?
- I ALWAYS rely so much on my teachers. My current teacher, Marc Durand, suffered an unfortunate eye injury at the time of my preparation. I was unfortunately left mostly on my own to prepare. I thank Maneli Pirzadeh for coming in from Montreal to help me. However, if not for my roots with Saskatchewan teachers like Bonnie Nicholson and Robin Harrison, I would never have had opportunities such as this.

5. What repertoire did you play for this competition?
- My program consisted of the 3rd Scherzo as well as Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise Brillante (Chopin), Prelude and Fugue in b flat minor, Bk I (Bach), Rigoletto (Liszt) and Sonate (Dutilleux).

6. How do you find tiem to prepare with all of the other things that you do?
- That question gets brought up many times fo rme. Unforunately, I don’t have a clear answer. I suppose if you have a passion, you are never too busy to find time to pursue it.

7. How many other competitors were actually in Paris for the final stages?
- There were 5 finalists, 2 of which were Canadian. The other was Averill Baker, a legal consultant from Newfoundland, and an incredible pianist. We were the first ever Canadians to reach the finals in the 17 year history of the competition. The other finalists were from England, Germany and France.

8. How long was your actual time in Paris?
- I was only there for a week, during my February break. This was key in my decision to enter the competition. I did not have to miss any school!

9. How did it feel to win? What were the responses from the public?
- To be honest, I fought back the tears after hearing my name. They asked me to address the audience, but I was speechless. It was probably the worst acceptance speech of all time! The French are some of the greatest audiences (next to those from Saskatchewan). They treat music very seriously there, knowing every note you play. When you get on their good side, they cheer madly. Of course, if you are not on their good side, they will talk right through your performance. I will never forget the moment at Le Sorbonne, where the sold-out audience began to chant my name after I performed, shouting “Yu! Yu! Yu!”.

10. Will you plan to do more of these competitions?
- I have been asked to enter similar competitions in Moscow, Boston, Washington and Berlin, but at this time I will just enjoy the moment. From this competition I now have 3 upcoming performances in Paris (Chopin Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3), along with recitals in Tokyo, Washington DC and one for the Governor General in Regina. Apparently the concerto in Paris has been sold out 6 weeks before the concert date!

- I would like to personally thank all my teachers past and present for molding me into who I am today. Wihtout them I would be nothing. Also, I would like to give a special thanks to those in the SRMTA and SMFA for all the competitions and festivals organized back home. My fond memories of the SMFA cocnerto competition, provincial grand awards concert, and the CFMTA competition in Winnipeg are only some of the many great expereicnes that I will cherish for my life. Thank you!

Thomas Yu ready to play at the finals at La Salle Gaveau. Photo courtesy of Di Ting Shih.