I am not a pianist or musician, but I like to listen to piano music. Most of the time I listen to music from the CD player. However things changed last week.

The 10th International Piano Competition 2012 was in Sydney’s Seymour Centre  last week. The best young piano players (from 17 to 30) representing different countries had come to Sydney for the competition. I have two senior relatives who had came all the way from South Australia, just to watch for the whole competion. They joined other seniors, and their  schedules were full. To see them and show my respect, I had to go to the concert and meet them there.

On last Wednesday 11 July, I went to Seymour Centre, bought the ticket for midday section and met my relatives happily. The concert lasted for two and a half hours including the interval. There were four competitors,  Tanya Gabrielian (America), Tomoaki Yoshida (Japan), Stefano Guarascio (Italy), Avan Yu (Canada).

When we were seated, Emma Ayers from ABC Fm came to stage announced that the competition is going to start, everyone should turn off mobile phones, and not cough. She taught us how to hold your cough. The audiences were remarkable, they were quiet during the concert, and coughed during the gaps.

The first player was Tanya, her recital included a Beethoven Sonata. When she touched the keys, the powerful rhythm rushed into my ears, shook my heart, and stormed my body, tears rolled down my eyes. Every player was great, they were talent and skillful.

It was a wonderful day, my experience with the competition was unforgettable. Two of the players Tanya Gabrielian and Avan Yu from the concert have reached the competition finals. Music — the sound relates to metal element in feng shui, it cleans space.  This time it cleaned temple of my soul.