Fingers Crossed

She is all of 17 but her fingers run smoothly over the keys of a Steinway piano as she plays a piece by Bach.

She is all of 17 but her fingers run smoothly over the keys of a Steinway piano as she plays a piece by Bach. With six months of practice and nearly a decade of training behind her,Chloe De Souza is confident of making it to the finals of the Con Brio piano competition. As she prepares for a course in music at a European music school,she views the competition as a stepping stone. Con Brio is among the countrys more serious piano competitions. The standards they expect need lengthy preparation and one competes against some of the best Indian pianists, says De Souza.

Con Brio,in its third year,is a highly competitive competition of Western classical music and piano. It is hosted by Furtados Music in association with organisations such as Alliance Francaise,NCPA and the British Council. The auditions and concert in Delhi took place on Sunday,with the semi-finals and finals scheduled at NCPA,Mumbai,on July 14 and 15 respectively.

The festival is dedicated to John Gomes,whose sons,Joseph and Anthony,run Furtados Music.

The Gomes family was mulling over hosting a pan-Indian piano competition when pianist Parvesh Java suggested a festival to celebrate German composer Robert Schumanns 200th birth anniversary three years ago. The concerts were combined with the competition and the first Con Brio took place in 2009,with contestants from Mumbai,Pune,Bangalore,Delhi and Chennai. Java became the festival director.

The festival gained credibility immediately,with international musicians judging the competition and performing. This year,the international stars on board are Karl Lutchmayer,Mark Troop and Paul Stewart. The finalists get to perform on stage with them and attend a three-day piano workshop.

The festival has energised the piano-playing community,and the Gomes brothers hope that it will help raise the standard of pianists in the country. The festival is not for entry or middle-level pianists. The age limit is 35 years,but even the younger contestants are in advanced levels of training,and expected to perform difficult compositions by greats like Beethoven. Two of last years finalists were 10 and 12 years old, says Anthony.

The last few years have seen an increasing number of youngsters taking up Western classical music,including learning the piano,with some even considering it a career option. Nadine Crasto,for instance,who also auditioned for the competition in Mumbai this year,has been a piano teacher for the last five years .

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