Stanislav Khristenko, a Russian pianist, and Qi Kong, of China took first places in their respective contests and age groups at the fourth annual Bösendorfer USASU and Schimmel USASU piano competitions held recently at Arizona State University.

Khristenko won top honors in the Bösendorfer event for pianists ages 19-32, and Qi Kong won first place in the junior division of the Schimmel, for ages 13 to 15.

Khristenko received a cash prize of $15,000, donated by David Katzin, a gold medal created by OT Jewelers in Mesa, a solo recital at the Bösendorfer Saal in Vienna, concerto performances with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, and recitals in the National Concert Series in Serbia.

Khristenko graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied with famed Russian pedagogue Vera Gornostaeva. He previously won 3rd prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition and currently studies with Sergei Babayan at the Cleveland Institute for Music.

Qi Kong received a $3,000 cash prize and an invitation to perform at the Brauschweig festival in Germany.

Second and third place winners were:

Bösendorfer:
2nd prize: Daniyar Yessimkhanov, Kazakhstan
3rd prize:  Yue Chu, China

Schimmel senior division for pianists ages 16-18:
(1st prize: Not Awarded)
2nd prize:  Reed Tetzloff, USA
3rd prize: Yung Hoon Chun, South Korea

Schimmel junior division:
2nd prize: Chung man Kim, South Korea
3rd prize: Miao Yang, China

In addition, four special awards were presented:

Sangyoung Kim Award for the most outstanding performance of a Virtuoso work in the Bösendorfer USASU Competition:
Christopher Falzone, USA

Sarra and Emmanuil Senderov awards to the two most outstanding performances of a composition by a Russian composer:
Bösendorfer competition winner: Stanislav Khristenko, Russia
Shimmel competition winner: Chung man Kim, South Korea

Yehuda Meir memorial awards to the two most outstanding artistic performances of an etude by Chopin:
Bösendorfer Winner: Dmitri Levkovich, Canada
Schimmel Winner: Miao Yang, China

National Society for Arts and Letters special award for the most outstanding Arizona pianist in the Bösendorfer competition:
Winner: Joshua Hillmann, ASU student, USA.

For more information about the competitions and the winners, contact Baruch Meir at (480) 965-3386, or baruch.meir@asu.edu.

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