Friday, May 1, 2015
Alaska is one of the last States where I have not played, and so I was doubly excited to be here to do Classical Smackdown. After a great day in Seward, where I saw whales, porpoise and bald eagles for the very first time, I played for the enthusiastic audience of Anchorage. The results were heavily skewed towards Prokofiev, in all categories. Round 2 and 3 were won by Debussy, so it was not a complete rout, but Round 1 and 4 were so overwhelmingly Prokofiev that he came out on top. While here, I also judged the Alaska Piano Competition, where very talented young pianists played a wide repertoire. Obviously, I was in front of a sophisticated audience!
