The positive power of competitions: it is about providing artistic development, educational enhancement, scholarships, seminars, master classes and performance opportunities

American Music Teacher, April-May, 2003 by Melvin Stecher, Norman Horowitz

It is 8:00 A.M., Friday, June 28, 2002, and we are in a car, driving from midtown to the Manhattan School of Music for the last day of The Inaugural New York Piano Competition (NYPC). It will begin at 9:30 A.M. with the ensemble round, where all twenty-two contestants, divided into eleven teams, will compete for two prizes in the one-piano, four-hands category. Following a lunch break, the six judges will work with all the contestants in master classes for approximately three hours. After a short rest period, the final ceremonies will begin at 7:00 P.M. in Borden Hall, with all the candidates on stage, a full house in the auditorium and everyone waiting with great anticipation.

Just how did this all occur? Who conceived the NYPC, and what is it all about? It is not just another piano competition. It is about providing artistic development, educational enhancement, scholarships, seminars, master classes and performance opportunities. Guidance also is offered to help expand and focus the contestant's horizons toward the pursuit of a realistic and attainable music career. It is the experience of a lifetime that ignited the idea, as well as our perseverance as executive directors, duo-pianists, educators, clinicians, masters of encouragement and mini-philanthropists in the music education field. That's what made it occur.

We have been performing before the public as duo-pianists since each of us was nineteen years old. After appearing for four years in commercial establishments, as well as a month-long engagement at Radio City Music Hall, we signed with a major concert management company and toured the country from 1955-1998 with two Steinway concert grand pianos, a specially constructed truck and a driver. Interspersed with these tours of the USA were appearances in Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, Central and South America, and Israel. Concurrent with our tours, we directed The Stecher and Horowitz School of the Arts, in Cedarhurst, New York, from 1960-1999 and authored The Stecher and Horowitz Piano Library, published by G. Schirmer.

Fulfilling childhood dreams of a career on the concert stage, we combined performing with teaching for half a century. In 2000, we chose to add another aspect to our highly profiled dossier by creating a competition for outstanding young pianists, ages 14-18. Researching our concept for two years, we arrived at a formula that would set our thoughts apart from any other, not in its entirety, but sufficiently to make an enormous impact in the world of competitions. This included no elimination throughout the competition, giving each contestant the opportunity of performing in each round, and awarding a $1,000 scholarship to each contestant not receiving any of the top prizes after participating for five comprehensive days. Though winning is always exciting, the NYPC offered a climate for learning and sharing that made every contestant a winner.

Having advertised the NYPC in major periodicals and music conservatories, as well as through mailings to outstanding teachers, and community and private music schools, the response was somewhat overwhelming. Within three days of the application deadline, the New York office of The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation was deluged with approximately 150 applications. It was amazing to read all the accomplishments of each applicant and, even more so, to listen to the accompanying CDs and tapes. Following an extensive time period with the screening judges, twenty-two contestants were selected--an extremely difficult task and one that required educationally sound appraisal and listening skills.

Some of the loveliest and most heartwarming moments prior to the actual competition occurred during telephone conversations with the newly chosen contestants upon notification of their acceptance into the NYPC. Their genuine excitement, appreciation and enthusiasm reinforced our belief that we were on the right track. The following three and a half months were filled with the most unbelievably time-consuming and intensive moments of anxiety, work sessions and exciting periods of creativity ever experienced in our long careers as mentors.

Necessary plans for the competition included selecting a distinguished jury that would be sympathetic to young talent. Tasks included choosing the proper venue, arranging the schedule of events and creating seminars (Planning a Career in Music and Embracing Contemporary Music), as well as working out a final schedule and time table that would be realistic, successful and within the guidelines of established, successful competitions. A program book had to be created, final repertoire for each contestant had to be timed and biographies had to be complete and accurate. Panelists had to be selected for the seminars, and all related plans for video and sound recording had to be finalized. Accommodations for contestants and their families, either at a hotel or the available dorms, had to be suitable, comfortable and convenient. Also, contestants have to eat, have adequate practice pianos and studios, and be able to communicate with personnel affiliated with the competition at all times. Add up all the above, and you have a workload that begins at dawn and does not conclude until midnight. Believe it or not, we loved every minute and cannot wait until the 2004 NYPC.