Two from Nagaland win top honours at ‘Con Brio’ Piano Competition

The winner Chathavi Vuprü (middle) with two runners-up Aosen Jamir and Rohini Sharma at the Con Brio 2019. (Photo Courtesy: @conbrio.india/Facebook)

 

Two budding pianists from Nagaland have bought laurels to the state by winning top honours at the ‘Con Brio 2019: The John Gomes Memorial Piano Competition and Festival 2019’

Chathavi Vuprü, a 19-year old pianist from Dimapur, won the top prize at the finals held at the National Centre for Performing Arts’ (NCPA) Experimental Theatre, Mumbai on August 4. Aosen Jamir, also from Dimapur, along with Rohini Sharma tied for the 2nd runners-up position. 

 

According to the organiser, the competition was opened to all Indian nationals (including PIO and OCI card holders with certain condition) below the age of 35.

 

The competition included pre-screening, semi-finals and a grand finale.  The grand cash prize for the winner was Rs 3 lakh while second and third positions carry Rs 1, 00,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively, with applicable tax  deducted at source (TDS). Each semi-finalists were given Rs 25,000.

 

According to information on its official Facebook page, Con Brio is an annual competition presented by Furtados Music and directed by Parvesh Java with the objective of providing “a strong incentive to young Indian pianists to aim for high standards of pianism.”

 

“The festival aims to promote strong relationships among Western Classical Musicians, especially pianists,” it said.  Furtados Music is a retail music store headquartered in Mumbai.

 

The 2019 event, its 10th Edition, held from August 1-4 in Mumbai, was themed – ‘Con Brio 2019 – More Schumania – Celebrating Women With Clara.’ 

 

 “A happy coincidence for 2019 is that not only will it be the tenth edition of Con Brio, but it will also be the two-hundredth birth centenary of Clara Schumann, the wife of Robert Schumann who was the central figure of our inaugural Con Brio back in 2010, titled Schumania,” the organiser noted on its website.

 

‘We will celebrate her two-hundredth birth centenary by programming the festival to include exclusively the works of women composers, many of them unduly underperformed. The competition will do the same,” it added, and thus themed as ‘More Schumania.’

Meanwhile, the Task Force for Music & Arts (TaFMA), under Government of Nagaland took to Twitter on Monday and congratulated the two pianists from the state.

 

“...It’s a proud moment for #Nagaland and it’s music fraternity. Here is wishing them many more successes in the days ahead,” TaPMA posted on its official account. 

 

The Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio also lauded Vuprü’s achievement saying: “...Nagaland is proud of you. My best wishes to you for your future endeavors.” 

(Morung Express News)

 

(This article has been updated to reflect some factual corrections as well as adding some more details)