A B.C.-born musician who headlined last year’s season of the Coast Recital Society earned the top prize last weekend in one of the world’s top piano competitions.
Jaeden Izik-Dzurko performed pieces by Schubert, Medtner, Ravel and Chopin at the Raven’s Cry Theatre on Sept. 9, 2023. Last Saturday, the 25-year-old from Salmon Arm bested four other finalists from China, Vietnam, Taiwan and the United Kingdom during the Leeds International Piano Competition.
Izik-Dzurko played Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in West Yorkshire, England. (The competition finals, normally held in Leeds, were moved to nearby Bradford on account of concert hall renovations.)
He was awarded the Dame Fanny Waterman Gold Medal, which includes a debut recording with the Warner Classics label and an international performance tour with the Steinway Prize Winner Concerts Network. The distinction also comes with a £30,000 monetary award.
The Leeds competition narrowed its pool of five finalists from an initial group of 24 prodigies. Izik-Dzurko was the last competitor to appear during Saturday’s concert.
“There’s been so much pressure and intensity over the last two weeks or so,” said Izik-Dzurko immediately after his performance. “It was an unforgettable experience, especially with the Brahms concerto. It was such an experience to get through onstage, so much music, such an incredible narrative. This will be one of the highlights that I look back on in my life, I think.”
He has played the Johannes Brahms concerto before, and reflected upon leaving the stage that every time he plays it he feels “marginally more comfortable every time, maybe a little bit more confident. But still a very long way to go with it, definitely.” The work was completed by the German composer in 1881 after taking three years to write.
The artistic director of the Coast Recital Society, Denise Ball, first met Izik-Dzurko when he was in his teens. “I produced a solo recording of works by Scriabin — fiendishly difficult, fabulous but quirky pieces that young artists rarely tackle — and I knew then that he was destined for a fabulous career,” she recalled.
In May, Ball heard him play at the Montreal International Music Competition, where he also netted first prize. “He made a huge impression,” reported Ball, “his depth of musicality, his technical finesse, his poise for someone still in his 20s. It’s all quite remarkable!”
Izik-Dzurko obtained his Bachelor of Music degree at The Juilliard School; he is a former student of Ian Parker, the music director at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the principal conductor of its symphony orchestra. Izik-Dzurko completed graduate-level music studies at UBC and is now enrolled at the 500-year-old Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
“Pianists like Jaeden don’t come along very often and I can’t wait for his return engagement in Sechelt, which is on the horizon as part of his Montreal competition prize,” added Ball. “It’s such a joy to be able to showcase brilliant young Canadian artists such as Jaeden alongside big name international musicians all as part of the Coast Recital Society’s annual series. We’re awfully lucky on the Sunshine Coast!”
Video recordings of the Leeds Competition artists are available online at leedspiano.com. The Coast Recital Society’s upcoming concerts are listed at coastrecitalsociety.ca.
