From the Director of the HHIPC

STEVEN SHAIMAN

DIRECTOR, HILTON HEAD INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION

“Our currently scheduled piano-centric events are listed on the opposite page. We hope you will plan to be with us to enjoy live musicmaking at its finest. I look forward to welcoming you personally and to sharing these unforgettable experiences together!” Greetings and welcome to the 2022-23 season! As ‘the new kid on the block,’ let me start by sincerely thanking the HHSO / HHIPC family for the incredibly warm reception I have received. I already feel at home here and I am delighted to be a member of the Lowcountry performing arts community.

Before we focus on upcoming highlights—especially the 2023 competition (March 13-18)—I think it’s appropriate to look back at our successful 2022 competition and to salute my beloved predecessor, Mona Huff, and her impactful tenure as HHIPC Director! I was fortunate to attend the finals last March when the sensational Canadian pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko was selected as First Prize winner. Little did we know that Jaeden’s triumph here would be the first of four consecutive competition victories within six months, including his Gold Medal at Spain’s Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition in August. Bravo, Jaeden!

Jaeden is featured prominently in the 2022-2023 season, since we kick off 2023 by welcoming him back to Hilton Head in early January for a ‘victory lap,’ when he will perform Rachmaninoff’s gloriously melodic Piano Concerto No. 2 with the HHSO and Maestro Russell.

Another piano highlight with the HHSO is the late March return of 2017 HHIPC Winner, Ray Ushikubo, to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Some may recall that Ray is a virtuoso performer on piano AND violin, and he recently graduated from Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute with performance degrees on both instruments!

We are finalizing the HHIPC’s 2022-23 Piano Recital Series, and for my first season, we will showcase pianists who share a history with both the HHIPC and with me! I am thrilled to announce that we will begin in late October with Steven Lin and then finish in early May with Fei-Fei—both of whom excelled in the 2012 HHIPC, and both of whom are musicians I managed in my previous position at Concert Artists Guild! I know these engaging artists have become audience favorites over the last ten years, and we can’t wait to welcome them back to play for us at SoundWaves!

And last — but definitely not least — we’re busy preparing for the March 2023 HHIPC, during which our committee is eager to welcome 20 young pianists (ages 13 - 17) to Hilton Head! We’ve assembled a stellar international jury of eight piano professionals. The competitors will be announced in early December. I invite you to join us for that invigorating week of performances, so please be sure to mark your calendars now (March 13-18).

Speaking of calendars, all our currently scheduled piano-centric events are listed on the opposite page. We hope you will plan to be with us to enjoy live musicmaking at its finest. I look forward to welcoming you personally and to sharing these unforgettable experiences together!

Steve Shaiman

Director, Hilton Head International Piano Competition