(Clearwisdom.net) On October 9, 2009, the second NTDTV Chinese Piano Competition was held in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater in New York. Contestants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US participated. Eight contestants entered the semi-finals, which were to be held the following day.

Contestants in the Chinese Piano Competition

It is a three-round competition: primary, semi-finals, and finals. The musical selections for the contest are works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Bach-Busoni. The primary round featured the first movement of a Mozart sonata. The semi-final round was Mendelssohn's Variations. The selection for the finals is the first movement of a Beethoven sonata and the Bach-Busoni "D Minor Chaconne."

Judging committee member Becky Yao said, "The purpose of the competition is to promote traditional culture. Classical music is an essential human art and should be promoted."

Mr. Ma Changzi, chairman of judging committee, said, "Characteristics of classical music include harmony and order. Its presentation is full of love for life and positivity. Music affects human behavior, and classical music plays an active role in upgrading people's lives."

He continued, "Orthodox classical music is beneficial to physical and mental health. For example, research has shown that listening to Mozart's music has a calming effect and is good for the body. It can bring joy."

Contestant Haicong Ni is from China and entered the semi-finals. He was born into a musical family. Since he was four years old, he has studied piano. Currently he is working on his PhD in piano at Michigan State University. He said, "This competition is very good, because classical music is an essential part of human culture. I have participated in many competitions, but this is the only one I know of for Chinese outside of China."

Chian-yun Liu, another contestant in the semi-finals, is from Taiwan. She is currently an assistant accompanist at Michigan State University. Ms. Liu said her experience has taught her that classical music has profound meaning. She has benefited a great deal from studying it, including gaining understandings about life.

Eight contestants entered the semi-finals of the second Chinese Piano Competition

The eight contestants that qualified for the semi-finals were Bing Bai, Lisi Xu, Chian-yun Liu, Pei-chang Song, Yongchen Chen, Xiaofeng Wu, Ching-ya Mahlen, and Haicong Ni.

The semi-final and final rounds of the competition were to be held on October 10 and 11, with the final day to include a concert and awards ceremony. For details, please visit http://piano.ntdtv.com/.