British-born pianist Adam Jackson, now studying at the Juilliard School in New York, took the $2,500 first prize and the $500 audience choice award Tuesday night in the Dallas International Piano Competition. Sponsored by the Dallas Chamber Symphony, the contest awarded the $1,500 second prize to Taiwan native Yi-Chen Feng and the $1,000 third prize to Boston pianist Seho Young.
The first prize also includes a paid engagement with the DCS in the 2024-25 season. The chamber orchestra presents a violin competition on alternate years.
In the Tuesday evening concert, at Moody Performance Hall, each of the three finalists played a piano concerto with the DCS, led by guest conductor Jim Stopher.
Open to pianists 18 to 35, the competition drew 110 applicants, of whom 15 were chosen for participation. The first two rounds were held at the University of North Texas: first, piano concertos performed with piano accompaniment, then 30-minute solo recitals.
Three professors at Texas universities served as jurors for the competition: Andrew Brownell (University of Texas at Austin), Tali Morgulis (University of Houston) and Shijun Wang (Baylor University).
All three of the competition finalists were accomplished musicians. But Jackson’s performance of the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor had that extra “something.”
Great performances have an illusion of spontaneity, and Jackson’s Chopin had it through and through. The slow movement was ravishing — sometimes extravagantly stretched, but never losing the feeling of forward motion. The finale danced and glittered, with some daring stretches of pulse even there.
If Jackson’s Chopin hadn’t been so special, Feng’s Liszt Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major could have taken the top prize. Feng supplied plenty of heroism where called for, but also poetry for lyrical music and sparkle for the finale.
Young’s Schumann concerto was sensibly proportioned and admirably executed. But expressivity seemed more calculated — tastefully, to be sure — than felt. The music wanted more whimsy.
A pianist and composer as well as conductor, Stopher looked like a dream leader for these competition performances. His gestures were clear and specific, with no wasted motion, and he was unfailingly in sync with every expressive gesture made by the pianists.
In the Liszt, one was occasionally conscious of smaller string complements than with usual symphony orchestra performances. Brasses — splendidly as they played all evening — might have backed off a little in big moments. And Moody’s adjustable acoustics might have been dialed back for a little less reverberation.
But the chamber orchestra in general played very professionally and responsively. It was an enjoyable evening.
