Some of the world’s best classical pianists and aspiring young keyboard artists are coming to the Frost School of Music in June for the 6th edition of the Frost Chopin Festival. The annual event draws devotees of Fryderyk Chopin, the great 19th century Polish pianist and composer.
The festival, which runs June 9 to 16, is produced in conjunction with the Frost Chopin Academy, a summer program for young Chopin pianists that has grown in popularity and prestige in tandem with the festival.
This year the event also highlights the 50th anniversary of the National Chopin Piano Competition, one of the leading piano contests in the United States. The Competition, which takes place every five years and will be hosted at the Frost School in January 2025, is presented by the Miami-based Chopin Foundation of the United States, whose mission is to aid talented young American pianists in developing their careers, and to make classical music, and above all the music of Chopin, accessible to everyone.
Together, the Foundation, its Competition, and the Frost Chopin Academy and Festival, make the Frost School an influential center for the music of a composer who continues to compel audiences and musicians around the world.
“For pianists Chopin is a kind of touchstone for great artistry,” says Kevin Kenner, Frost associate professor and internationally acclaimed Chopin interpreter who started the Academy and Festival after he joined Frost in 2015. “He was a pivotal composer in the history of piano music. At the heart of Chopin’s music lie mysteries and clues that can help in approaching the music of many other composers.”
Kenner, whose illustrious career received a crucial boost when he placed second in the National Chopin Competition in 1990, sending him on to a first-place performance at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, is passionate about how the Festival and Academy foster new generations of pianists in the composer’s artistry. This year the Academy has 36 students, the highest number ever, from around the world, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe and even Mongolia. Several of them have received scholarships from the Chopin Foundation.
Among them are Eric Guo, 21, of Canada, who’s attended the Academy since 2019 and last year won first prize at the International Chopin Competition for Historical Instruments in Warsaw; Saehyun Kim, 16, of Boston, winner the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists; and Seokyoung Hong, only 15, who won the Cliburn Junior International Piano Competition, the junior version of the most prestigious piano competition in the U.S.
“Every year we get younger and younger participants,” says Kenner. “These young pianists are our future and they’re so extraordinary.”
Many of the Academy students will perform at the Festival alongside the celebrated pianists who are their teachers. Faculty and performers include Kenner, Dina Yoffe, Haesun Paik, Wojciech Świtała, Dmitry Ablogin, Edward Auer, John Rink, jazz artist Ted Rosenthal, and violinists David Kim and Michael Vaiman.
Students are drawn by the opportunity to immerse themselves in Chopin’s music under the tutelage of some of his best interpreters, as they prepare for competitions that can open doors to a performance career. Three-time Academy student Avery Gagliano was the first prize winner at the 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition, receiving a $100,000 award, acceptance to the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, and a concert tour.
“The Chopin Foundation of the United States is excited to once again be a collaborative partner for the sixth edition of the Frost Chopin Academy and Festival,” says Barbara E. Muze, executive director of the Chopin Foundation. “Providing piano students the opportunity to study the music of Chopin with world-renowned concert artists gives them the insights, tools, and inspiration to enter the National and International Chopin Piano Competitions in 2025. Between the Frost Chopin Festival this summer and the 2025 Competition in January, South Florida is becoming the mecca for Chopin’s music in the US, offering everyone in the community access to outstanding performances by fantastic musicians.”
Festival highlights include a June 12 showcase for Academy students under 18; and the June 16 closing concert, featuring Guo and, for the first time, a professional string orchestra, led by David Kim, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Concerts take place at Gusman Concert Hall and the Newman Recital Hall at the Knight Center for Innovation, whose exquisite acoustics and intimate setting are ideal for piano performance.
At the heart of all this effort is the profound, timeless appeal of Chopin’s artistry. “Chopin’s music is very personal,” says Kenner. “He had a powerful gift to directly and exquisitely express through his music his innermost thoughts and feelings — his loves, hopes, and aspirations, as well as his experience of loss. And this may be one reason his music continues to resonate so vividly with us today.”
If you go: The Frost Chopin Festival takes place June 9 to 16 at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables. Tickets to all events are $10, and free for children under 18. Information and tickets available here.
