The 2nd International Piano Festival in Vancouver by People with Disabilities 2009 completed in Octover, 2009 with great success.
We truely thank you for all of your great support on this event.
Committee of International Piano Festival in Vancouver by People with Disabilities
-EVENT IN THE PAST-
The 2nd International Piano Festival in Vancouver by People with Disabilities 2009 (former Piano Paralympics)
Award Winners
The 2nd International Piano Festival by People with Disabilities held successfully in Vancouver, Canada
from Sep 30 to Oct 3rd, 2009.
Course A
| 18 years old or above | ||
| Gold Medal,Fukuda Prize | Rie Yamazaki | Age 33, Hokkaido, Japan |
| Silver Medal, Original Prize　 | Asuka Noda | Age 26, Miyazaki, Japan |
| Bronze Medal | Yoshie Kuwahara | Age 23, Gifu, Japan |
| Crystal Medal | Gohei Nishikawa | Age 34, New York, USA |
| Maple Prize | Ubolwan Piakaew | Age 21, Bangkok, Thailand |
| 18 years old or less | ||
| Jr. Gold Prize | David Gonzales | Age 12, Guadalajara, Mexico |
| Jr. Silver Prize | Anmi Shigemoto | Age 11, Tokyo, Japan |
| Jr. Bronze Prize | Hirotaka Ueyama | Age 16, Aichi, Japan |
| Jr. Crystal Prize | Yuki Matsutani | Age 12, Hyogo, Japan |
| Jr. Maple Prize | Kazumasa Ogata | Age 12, Hyogo, Japan |
Course B
INSTITUTE of PIANO TEACHERS & PEOPLE
with DISABILITIES, JAPAN
What's New?
-1st Examination completed on May 2nd in Tokyo, Japan.
-The schedule for attendees from countries other than Japan is to be arranged in mid June. Please contact us for more information.
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1st IPFD in 2005 (6 min) |
TV News in Canada (3 min) |
Greeting
Tokio Sakoda
Former Piano Professor at Musashino Academie Musicae
President of Institute of Piano Teachers & people with Disabilities
&Committee of International Piano Festival by people with Disabilities
This is one of the new social contribution movements by the professional musicians.
I was involved in the guidance of the piano at the music academy for a long time, and have seen many people also who have a rich talent though they have disabilities. People who look physical impossible to play music also have splendid talents. And, their genuine love to music with an original wonderful invention makes us miracle new impression that touched with our mind.
However, good musical educational environment to them is not sufficient, unfortunately.
Probably it comes from our ignorance of disabilities and our mind that tends to be lost by the competitive world .
I think it will be sure that there are a lot of musicians who are working with such people and many persons to enable impossibility all over the world.
I want to work together with such people.
It is said that fundamentals of education are to make a "Dream" and the dream comes true.
There are Olympics and Paralympics in sports. These are wonderful world festivals of unfolded human race in the motto of "most important is to participate."
I have heard that it was a place of the presentation of human's best ability with not only sports but also fields of all the cultures are contained . There are a lot of people not good at sports, much more for musicians with disabilities they have no chance to participate by the reason of handicap.
So, I proposed piano Paralympics for that.
The 1st piano Paralympics was held with 94 challengers from 14 countries and 2 days in Yokohama in January, 2005 and was great success.
The wonderful, musical impression developed by people who enabled the impossibility, was evaluated high by a lot of audiences as the sound that had not been listened before.
Finally we will hold the 2nd festival with the cooperation of Vancouver City from September 30 to October 4, 2009.
Vancouver is famous also in the world as one of the most beautiful sightseeing spots, and it can be said that tenderhearted people in Canada as countries with advanced welfare systems is a suitable locality for such a music festival.
Everyone can participate if they love piano music in the handicapped person.
We would like to hold by the special symbolized name " Unheard Notes" in this time grandly.
This is not a competition.
"Please play your own music by you as a person of the only one in this world!"
And, I want to ask for a lot of cooperation of a musician and music lovers all over the world who do the will similarly as us for the success of this the 2nd international piano festival in Vancouver by people with disabilities 2009.
The "PayPal" corner was set up especially for the convenience of the contribution and the remittance by your goodwill this time.
We wish sincerely to express our gratitude for your cooperation.
Thank you.
I. Prospectus
Do you refrain from playing the piano due to a disability? "The 2nd International Piano Festival in Vancouver by People with Disabilities (former Piano Paralympics)" = I.P.F.D is an international piano music festival for pianists who have overcome great challenge. We are encouraging all pianists with a disability to communicate that challenge themselves to express their musical feelings through the piano and share the enjoyment of making music with the audience.
It shall not be forgotten that Ludwig von Beethoven who became deaf has left us a great inheritance of his music. The career of Pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right hand in World War I, was reborn as the "Pianist of the left hand", and remains as one of the greatest pianist in the history of music. The famous Japanese Koto Player (Koto is a traditional Japanese string instrument). Michio Miyagi, who had a visual disability, is well known for having laid the foundations of this Japanese instrument and has given the roots to Japanese traditional music.
Beautiful and heartfelt music can be produced by a sensitive and keen artist even with a hearing impairment, a pianist with one hand, or a pianist who creates music with just a single finger. We would like to establish a world-wide piano music festival filled with new ideas to celebrate and encourage the talents of physically challenged artists. Let us say "the possibilities of the human ability are unlimited".
The real purpose is not to compete for superiority but to encourage, appreciate and praise special skills through music and to bring awareness of such achievements to the general public. Through this kind of international exchange we also believe that we can contribute to World Peace.
II. Purpose
- To increase knowledge of the disabilities around us.
- To learn, encourage the possibilities and exchange information about each disability.
- To recognize the vast possibilities and to enhance the creative training among those with disabilities.
- To search, nurture and to support new talents.
- To promote Musical Leaders, consolidate talent information, and promote these talents with performance engagements.
- To enhance each individuality, and learn about different culture through music.
- To return the benefits of the experiences to society.
- To support "International Piano Festival by People with Disabilities=former Piano Paralympics" as an opportunity to get together and learn from each other.
- To open the eyes to the worldwide community and hope for peace.
Video Library
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| Unheard Notes Nov 9, 2008 at UBC Recital Hall, Vancouver |
Unheard Notes Dec 3, 2007 at United Nations, New York |
| (1hour 2minutes) | (9 minutes) |
Letters
Donation
Commitee of International Piano Festival by People with Disabilities (CIPFD) is seeking for donations from those who understand the concept of this festival and wish to support it.
Please click the "donation" button below, to go to PayPal site for your donation.