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2019 NTD International Piano Competition Winners Announced

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Prague City Cancels Partnership Agreement With Beijing Amid Strained Ties

News Analysis PRAGUE—The Prague City Council on Oct. 7 decided to terminate the Partnership Agreement with Beijing over the “One China” policy which the city refuses to acknowledge. The latest move underscores tense relations between China and the Czech Republic. Since January, the city’s lawmakers have repeatedly asked Beijing to remove Article 3 from the agreement, that would have required it to commit to the “one China” policy affirming that Taiwan is a part of China. However, Beijing refused to remove the article. City councilor Hana Kordova Marvanova (STAN) stated at a press conference after the city council meeting on Oct. 7 that she “does not want Prague to show support for the authoritarian regime that exists in China.” Marvanova also said the request to remove Article 3 is a gesture by which…

Winners of 2019 NTD International Piano competition. (Dai Bin/The Epoch Times)

Vladimir Petrov from Mexico won gold, Nicolas Giacomelli from Italy won silver, and Sanghie Lee from South Korea won bronze at the NTD International Piano Competition on Sept. 28, 2019.

Shih-Yeh Lu from Taiwan, Olena Miso from Ukraine, and Maxim Anikushin from New York won Outstanding Performance awards.

Shih-Yeh Lu also won the Commissioned Composition Award, for best performance of the commissioned work “Triumph of Goodness.”

Eighty-six contestants from 28 countries signed up for the NTD International Piano Competition, which was held at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York City on Sept 27. and Sept. 28. Fifteen made it to the semi-finals, and six advanced as finalists.

The mission of the competition is to promote and preserve the 250 years of traditional piano repertoire, and “bring back the glory of piano masterpieces from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods.”

Becky Yao, head judge of the competition, said contestants have given such positive feedback about the repertoire, which puts emphasis on the foundations of piano music with Bach and Beethoven requirements.

“We were very happy, and as judges we feel very honored to listen to those talented pianists,” Yao said.

“This year there were so many young pianists, I’m so happy to see young people who want to come back to this tradition,” she said.

Yao says the team is already putting together repertoire requirements for the next competition.

“There will definitely be a commissioned piece, that’s our centerpiece,” Yao said. “It’s a special piece of Chinese and Western tradition combined together.”

You can watch the finals below:

You can also watch the winners being announced below:

This article is from the Internet:2019 NTD International Piano Competition Winners Announced

Innocent US Navy Veteran Released from Thai Prison After 14 Months Behind Bars

A U.S. Navy veteran is now free after spending over a year in a maximum-security prison in Thailand for a crime he did not commit. Derrick Keller was arrested in Bangkok and jailed without bail in August 2018 following accusations that he was the mastermind behind a Ponzi scheme. Keller was charged with transnational organized crime, public cheating and fraud, and jointly committing public fraud. His family feared he would end up spending decades behind bars as Americans facing serious charges in Thailand are rarely acquitted. According to the Thai Examiner, they had been told that, statistically, Thai courts find around 95 percent of foreigners accused of serious crimes guilty. Keller was suspected of the crime because of acting work he did in a series of corporate videos for Eagle Gates Group…