mir Tebenikhin, grand prize Winner of the 1999 Vianna da Motta International Music Competition, brought his superb talent to the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York for a special recital on September 26.

     Tebenikhin played a Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano through a program that included Bach's "Four Duets," Brahms' "Piano Pieces, Op. 76," Debussy's "Préludes (From Book II)" and Prokofieff's "Sonata no. 8. Op. 84." He also gave winner's recitals at Wigmore Hall in London and at the Salle Chopin-Pleyel in Paris in October, and has recorded a CD on the Naxos label which will be released in 2000.

     Twenty five artists traveled to Macau in Far East Asia in May to compete in the 13th Vianna Da Motta competition, which carries on the legacy of Portugese virtuoso José Vianna Da Motta. Vianna Da Motta was the last master student of Franz Liszt, and in turn, he was master to Professor Sequeira Costa, president and founder of the Vianna Da Motta Foundation and chairman of the competition's jury.

     "Amir Tebenikhin is a bright young talent and his touch on the piano is very beautiful," Costa says. A native of Kazakhstan, Tebenikhin also won the Halmarnedov International Piano Competition in 1995 and the National Piano Competition in Temirtau in 1994.

     Tebenikhin, 21, currently has returned to his piano studies at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

Ravinia Festival Delights Thousands in Chicagoland

he Chicago area's renowned Ravinia Festival celebrated its "Season of the Century" in 1999 with three amazing months of classical music, pop, jazz, and dance. More than half a million people attended 145 events at the festival's suburban Highland Park setting.

     Yamaha provided two CFIIIS concert grand pianos for use in the main amphitheater and recital hall, complementing the CFIIIS that resides year round on the stage of the Steans Institute for Young Artists, Ravinia's professional studies program for young musicians. Three Yamaha upright pianos were installed in dressing rooms for the artists' use, and 11 other Yamaha grand pianos were used throughout the festival.

     The festival's 24 performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by Ravinia Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, included an August 14 fin-de-siécle gala hosted by Isaac Stern. Ravinia also boasted an appearance by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Kurt Mazur, a series of recitals at the Martin Theatre, a centennial salute to Duke Ellington, and Bobby McFerrin helming one of four jazz dates.

     The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, the Hubbard Street Dance Company, and the Trinity Irish Dance Company lent physical grace to the music on nine separate evenings, and a series of kids' concerts introduced young listeners to the festival's magic. For many, Ravinia's real treat came during the pop series, which featured a spectrum ranging from Tony Bennett and the Temptations to the Doobie Brothers and Creedence Clearwater Revisited to Keb' Mo' and Wynonna.

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