Ross McKee Foundation Announces Semifinalists and Final Concert of 25th Annual Piano Competition

The Ross McKee Foundation has announced the semifinalists of the 25th Annual Ross McKee Piano Competition. The 2022-23 semifinalists are Richard Bai, Iris Cai, Chrystal Cheng, Munan Cheng, Oliver Corro, Sora Corro, Mehana Ellis, Olivia Gao, and Larry Lei. The Competition Jury consists of Bay Area pianists Allegra Chapman, Monica Chew, and William Wellborn.

The Ross McKee Piano Competition celebrates the talents of young piano virtuosi in the San Francisco Bay Area. Contestants are selected for the semifinal round from recorded performances. This year, nine contestants between the ages of 11 and 17 advanced to the semifinals.

They will play 25-minute programs in a private performance for the Competition Jury on January 8, 2023, presenting self-selected repertoire as well as the required piece "Pitter Patter" by Monica Chew.

From the semifinalists, four (or fewer) McKee Laureates will be selected for the Competition's final concert on January 15, 2023. At this concert, the Laureates will present their programs to the general public in the Barbro Osher Recital Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Bowes Center (200 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94103).

Tickets to the final performances are free, but reservations are required and can be made at rossmckee.org/tickets.

As part of this year's competition, the Foundation is thrilled to be partnering with Noontime Concerts to present a performance by 2021 Ross McKee Laureate Sarah Yuan on January 10, 2023 at Old St. Mary's Cathedral (660 California St, San Francisco, CA 94108. Information about this free recital can be found at https://noontimeconcerts.org/concerts/emerging-artist-sarah-yuan-piano/.

The Ross McKee Piano Competition has been a signature project of the Ross McKee Foundation every year since 1997. Launched by the Foundation's first executive director John Cron, the competition has become one of the premiere piano competitions for young artists in the Bay Area. Over the past 25 years, seven hundred teenage pianists have applied to enter the competition, and, of them, 144 young artists have emerged as Laureates. They have received $146,000 in prize money as well as performance opportunities and professional-level recordings and videos of their performances. Many have gone on to careers as performers, educators, and faculty members at major music conservatories and universities. Their achievements inspire both younger piano students and the piano-loving audiences the Ross McKee Foundation serves.

The Ross McKee Foundation (www.rossmckee.org), a private nonprofit foundation committed to piano education and performance, has an impressive history of support for the piano culture of the Bay Area. Now in its 30th anniversary year, the Foundation celebrates the more than $2.5 million in grants it has awarded to hundreds of pianists and music organizations in the Bay Area Through its grants and projects, the Foundation has endeavored to realize the original mission that Ross McKee set forth: "to enrich our lives with beauty and understanding through the language of music." Funding local arts presenters and organizations that produce concerts and commission new works for piano, sponsoring music education and piano lessons in schools, awarding scholarships to young pianists and composers, and even directly supporting individual local pianists through the difficult years of the pandemic - these are the ways in which the Ross McKee Foundation continues its efforts to enrich our lives with beauty and understanding.

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