Purdue News
Purdue News
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February 7, 2003 Gold medal violinist and pianist team up for 'Pure Gold'WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The gold medal winners of the prestigious International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition of Utrecht, the Netherlands, will make a local stop on their national Pure Gold tour at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, in Fowler Hall. Admission is $9. Tickets can be purchased at Purdue box offices or charged by phone at (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. The concert is presented by Purdue Convocations. This year the coveted "Indy" gold medal was awarded to 24-year-old Hungarian violinist Barnabás Kelemen and the Liszt medal was awarded to 21-year-old French pianist Jean Dubé. Born in Budapest in 1978, Kelemen started his violin studies at age 6 with noted Hungarian teacher Valeria Baranyai. He entered Eszter Perenyi's class at the Franz Liszt Music Academy at the age of 11. In 2001 he received his diploma and also was awarded the Sándor Végh Prize by the Sándor Végh Foundation in Budapest. Kelemen has claimed a number of honors in international competitions, including second prize at the 1997 Szigeti Competition; first prizes at the 1999 Mozart Competition in Salzburg and the International Piano Trio Competition in Kuhmo; third prize at the 2001 Queen Elisabeth Competition; and first prize and six of the eight special prizes at this year's "Indy" competition. Kelemen has released four solo records under the Hungaroton label. His first double CD, "Complete Works for Violin and Piano by Franz Liszt," with pianist Gergely Boganyi, won the International Liszt Society's Grand Prix du Disque. French pianist Jean Dubé began playing the piano at the age of 5 and has studied primarily with Jacques Rouvier and Jacqueline Robin. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician on television and radio in his home country and abroad. His talents have been acknowledged since the age of 9 when he was invited to open the Mozart Bicentenary, playing Mozart's "Concerto No. 5" with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra. In the same year he was unanimously awarded first prize in the "Jeunes Prodiges Mozart à Paris" competition. Dubé was the youngest graduate in the history of the Conservatory of Nice, and at the age of 14 he earned the first prize in piano from the National Superior Conservatory of Paris. At the 2002 Liszt Piano Competition of Utrecht in April, he was the undisputed winner of the sixth edition of this competition. CONTACT: Larry Sommers, Purdue Convocations, (765) 494-5045, lsommers@purdue.edu. NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: Publication-quality photographs of Kelemen and Dubé are available at ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/kelemen.jpeg and ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/dube.jpeg.
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