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International
Westfjords
Piano Festival

2nd Edition: August 13-19, 2023

About

The International Westfjords Piano Festival presents world-class piano recitals in the beautiful Northwest region of Iceland. Each year invited musicians will produce an exciting program with a unique artistic vision and give masterclasses to the students in the community culminating in a student concert. In our 2nd edition, concerts and activities will be held at the Vesturbyggð region, in Patreksfjörður and Tálknafjörður.

This year's inaugural Festival is gratefully funded and sponsored by Uppbyggingarsjóði Vestfjarða, Rannís Music Fund, Eyrarrósin, Listamannalaun (Artist’s Salary Fund), Vesturbyggð Menningar og Ferðamálaráð, Lionsklúbbur Patreksfjarðar, Vestur Restaurant, and Verslunin Albína.

Our international artists this year are: Antoinette Perry (USA), professor at USC Thornton School of Music (Los Angeles), Dr. Nína Margrét Grímsdóttir (Iceland), chair of advanced studies department at Tónskóli Sigursveins D. Kristinssonar, Myung Hwang Park (South Korea/France), composer and pianist based in Paris, and Andrew J. Yang (USA/Iceland), artistic director.

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2023 Artists

Andrew J. Yang
(USA/Iceland)
Artistic Director

American pianist Andrew J. Yang, has an active performance career across the Europe, North America, and Asia. Deemed by The San Francisco Examiner as "a prodigy, [running] the emotional gamut from brooding introspection to manic exuberance”, Yang has performed at venues such as Auditorium Marcel Landowski (Paris), Musiikkitalo (Helsinki), Jewish Cultural Center (Krakow), Mozarthaus (Vienna), Hoheikan (Sapporo), Carnegie Hall (New York City), and concert halls in Llanes and Ribadesella (Spain). Yang was recently awarded the top prize at the 30th International FLAME Piano Competition in Paris, France (2019). He has also received awards from numerous competitions including the International Heida Hermanns Piano Competition, Euregio Piano Award International Competition in Germany, and the Metropolitan International Piano Competition in New York City. In 2018, Yang was awarded a "White Rose" Medal of Honor for musical excellence from President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö. Since 2020, Yang has resided in Patreksfjörður, Iceland.

Myung Hwang Park
(South Korea/France)
Composer in Residence

Myung Hwang Park, born in 1987 in South Korea, made a commitment to music studies at the age of 16. He pursues his studies of Composition Theory and Film Scoring at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, while being laureate of scholarships from the Tarazzi Foundation and Leg Jabès Foundation. He studied piano in parallel at Haute Ecole de Music de Genève for his master’s degree in piano performance. His teachers and mentors include Thierry Escaich, Yves Henry, Dominique Weber, Bruno Coulais, Marie-Jeanne Serero. Since 2017, Park composes for short animations and films, several which have been selected by numerous festivals and exposed in the museum (such as at the Jeu de Paume in Paris). His compositions were also featured in media facade projections on Grand Cathédrale of Orléans, Abbaye de Notre-dame des anges. He was a composer and musician on numerous cine-concerts in film festivals (Mon premier festival at Paris, Music&Cinéma at Aubagne and Marseille) and cine concerts Méliès redécouvert (Maison de la Radio France), and Voyage extraordinaire (Hermès).

Antoinette Perry, born into a family of professional musicians, gave her first public performance at the age of four. Since then, she has concertized extensively throughout the United States, Germany, France, England, and China. She has been heard often on NPR and the Bravo! Channel, and has recorded for the Crystal, Harmonie, Pacific Rainbow, Pacific Serenades, Excelsior, and Navona/PARMA labels. Her first solo album, “Beethoven Bookends,” was released under the Navona LIVE/PARMA label in 2021. Le Dauphine Libéré has lauded her “irreproachable technique” and “a musical comprehension which could only belong to one of the Greats.” The LA Times has praised her “exceptional artistry”, her “superb Schubert in every respect". She was one of only two women representing the United States in the 6th Van Cliburn International Competition (1981). Ms. Perry served on the UCLA piano faculty for 12 years before joining the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music in 1996, where she currently teaches. The California Association of Professional Music Teachers awarded her their 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Antoinette Perry
(USA)
Guest Artist

Pianist Nína Margrét Grímsdóttir is one of Iceland ́s most established classical performers and recording artist. She has performed in Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, and China, including concertos with the Royal Chamber Orchestra in Tokyo, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra, Iceland Amateur Symphony Orchestra and the Reykjavik Wind Quintet. She has recorded five CDs for Naxos, BIS, Acte Préalable and Skref. Her CDs and concerts have received excellent reviews in Gramophone Awards Issue, BBC Music Magazine, Glasgow Herald, Crescendo-Magazine, Xi’an Evening News and High Fidelity. She holds a D.M.A. performance degree from the City University of New York.