The final round of the Sixth Miami International Organ Competition was held at the Church of the Epiphany, Miami, Florida, on March 2, 2012.
Sponsored by Fratelli Ruffatti and the Church of the Epiphany, the evening featured three finalists, each playing a 25-minute program on the 61-rank Ruffatti organ. A very large, enthusiastic audience was in attendance.
The first prize of $5,000 as well as the $500 audience prize was awarded to Weicheng Zhao (China), currently a Master's student of Cherry Rhodes at the University of Southern California. Anne Lam (Hong Kong), a Doctoral student of David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music, received the $2,500 second prize. The third prize of $1,500 went to Paweł Wróbel (Poland), who studies at the Universitat für Musik in Graz with Gunther Rost.
52 applications from 17 countries were initially received this year; preliminary round judges were Cristina García Banegas, Robert Bates, and Hans Fagius. Judges for the final round of the 2012 competition were Kimberly Marshall, Luciano Magnanini, and Stefan Engels.
The Seventh Miami International Organ Competition will take place in early 2014; please check the Fratelli Ruffatti website for more information: www.ruffatti.com.
