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The Home Affairs Bureau has congratulated Hong Kong young pianist Aristo Sham Ching-toa on winning the first prize in the 4th National Juvenile Piano Contest in Gulangyu of Xiamen City on July 21. This is the second time in a month that Sham has won first prize in international piano competitions. His success last month was in the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, United States.
The 4th National Juvenile Piano Contest has been held biennially since 2002 and simultaneously with the Gulangyu International Piano Art Festival which aims to invite the finest national young pianists for music exchange, further promote the piano art and assist the development of young pianists. It was the first time the organiser had invited the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts to participate. Sham was the youngest contestant among the six competitors of the Juvenile team.
Sham, currently a primary six student and a junior student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a double major in Piano, Composition and Computer Music Technology. He beat 33 top young pianists from around the world.
He has won a number of international prizes, including the gold prize in the 6th Chopin International Competition in Asia (Japan), the championship in Group A of the 69th Steinway International Children & Youth Piano Competition (China Regional final) in Beijing, the championship in the Mozart Sonata group of the 3rd Asian Youth Music Competition in Shanghai, the first prize in category A at the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists 2006 in Germany, and the first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition in the United States.
Ends/Monday, July 28, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:28
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