Belgian pianist Valère Burnon has been selected as one of the twelve finalists in the Queen Elisabeth Competition, international competition for classically trained career-starting musicians, taking place in Brussels, according to an announcement on the organisation’s Facebook page.
The competition, focusing on piano this year, narrowed down from 24 semi-finalists to twelve, including Marchois-native Burnon. Among the selected finalists are seven men and five women, with four competitors hailing from Japan.
The finalists named in the announcement from Saturday night to Sunday morning are American Rachel Breen, Belgian Valère Burnon, French Arthur Hinnewinkel, Japanese Wataru Hisasue, French Mirabelle Kajenjeri, Japanese Masaya Kamei, Japanese Shiori Kuwahara, Dutch Nikola Meeuwsen, French Nathalia Milstein, Chinese Jiaxin Min, Russian Sergey Tanin, and Japanese Yuki Yoshimi.
These twelve musicians will now reside at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo to prepare “Music for the Heart,” a piece specially composed by Belgian Kris Defoort for the occasion.
The final round will take place from 26 to 31 May at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, with the results announced after the last performance on 31 May, around midnight.
