Polish pianist Paweł Wakarecy has made it through to the final round of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, it was announced Saturday evening.

Wakarecy is joined by nine other finalists, including four Russians - Yulianna Avdeeva, Nikolay Khozyainov, Daniil Trifonov and Miroslav Kultyshev, Lukas Geniusas from Lithuania, Francois Dumont and Helene Tysman from France, Austrian Ingolf Wunder and Bulgarian Evgeni Bozhanov.

Pawel Wakarecy was born in 1987 in Torun, central Poland and was educated at the Feliks Nowowiejski Music Academy in Bydgoszcz. He was also tutured by Rafal Blechacz, winner of the International Chopin Competition in 2005.

Marcin Koziak was the other pianist from Poland in the third round of the competition who had hoped to be in the elite final ten.

Asia hits wrong note

The major surprise is that none of the pianists from Japan and China have qualified for the finals which will be staged between 18 to 20 October.

Japanese music critic Yoko Tsunekawa told the PAP news agency that she isn’t surprised. "The pianists from Asia had great technique, but most of them do not really feel Chopin’s music - especially his mazurkas," she said.

Japan began on 3 October with seventeen entrants - the largest number from any nation taking part, which included China, Spain, the United States, Russia, South Korea, Canada, Germany and Australia.

In the final stage (Monday-Wednesday), the contestants will perform one of Chopin’s two piano concertos with the Warsaw Philharmonic under the baton of Antoni Wit. As many as eight finalists have chosen the Concerto in E minor, and only two (including Wakarecy) the Concerto in F minor.

The International Chopin Piano Competition was initiated in 1927 and since 1955 has been held in Warsaw every five years. (pg/mk)