Those who teach or play the piano will know the significance of G. Henle Verlag. Henle is a world-leading publishing house focusing on Urtext editions, that is, editions which solely remain true to the composer’s intentions. Based in Munich, Germany, this publishing house will be celebrating its 75th Anniversary next year, so do keep an eye open for their forthcoming celebrations.

Henle’s beautifully presented editions, resplendent with copious practical performance and historical notes, excellent typesetting, and unmistakable soft blue covers, make them an obvious choice for students, amateurs and professionals alike. All my students use their editions, as do I.

Last month, I had the pleasure of being a jury member at the 2022 G. Henle Verlag Piano Competition. I’ve judged many a piano competition, but have never been a jury member at such a large scale event. The 2022 competition was held online, with participants uploading their video performances, which were presented on Henle’s YouTube channel.

This competition is essentially for younger children with three age categories, ranging between 6 and 11 years old. The competition has been running for over ten years and it focuses on a different composer every year. This year’s choice was Robert Schumann’s Scenes From Childhood Op. 15 or Album For The Young Op. 68. Such a selection offers participants a wide variety of styles from which they could pick any one piece.

There were four jury members: professor Claudius Tanski, a faculty member at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria, professor Frank Huang, a faculty member at Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, US, and Dr. Wolf-Dieter Seiffert, managing director of G. Henle Verlag, as well as myself. We heard a total of 651 entries – a staggering number, in my opinion. The first round was a solo listening affair. We listened remotely and awarded each competitor a mark. Those with the highest marks were put forward to the ‘final’ round. Our ‘online’ final involved lengthy discussions. We listened to many replays of various performances, but ultimately, we were in complete agreement regarding the winners.

I really enjoyed hearing such fascinating and ‘personal’ performances of this marvellous composer’s shorter compositions. Interpretation is key regarding the works of Schumann. Perhaps more than any other composer, Schumann’s music is a deep reflection of his soul. Those competitors who were successful tapped into this effectively, presenting illuminating and expressive accounts.

An overall winner was awarded in each category. Second and third placed participants followed, and all received prize money. There was also a list of highly commended competitors who received Henle scores.

You can hear all the performances on Henle’s YouTube channel, here, and review the prize winners, here. I’ve linked the three overall winners below.

Age Group 1

Yudi Zheng from Marbach/Neckar, Germany

Age Group 2

Clive Terrence Wijaya from Surabaya, Indonesia

Age Group 3

Charisse Chung from Hong Kong

You can find out more about G. Henle Verlag, here.