(dissonant music) (dissonant music continues) - [Narrator] Here in Oxford, Alabama, at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the hills are alive with the sound of music.

Tonight, young pianists from around the world gather to turn practice into poetry and notes into possibility.

This is Rubato.

Hosted by the Oxford Performing Arts Center, the Rubato International Piano Competition is more than a stage.

It's a community, an exchange of cultures, and a promise that great art can bloom anywhere the doors are open and the lights come up.

In the heart of downtown Oxford, the Performing Arts Center, OPAC to locals, has become a home for touring artists, school concerts, and now an international competition that turns this small southern city into a global destination.

Rubato began with a vision, give young artists not just a contest, but a platform, a week of mentorship, masterclasses, and performances where craft meets courage and community meets world-class artistry.

With partners at Steinway, each instrument is voiced and tuned for the hall, ready to respond to the smallest breath and the boldest crescendo.

This year's competition unfolds across three nights.

From these performances, nine finalists advance to the Saturday finale.

Before the first note, there's a journey, hours alone at the keyboard, mentors who challenge and encourage, families and friends who believe.

Tonight, seven pianists step into the lights to share the stories only they can tell.

From delicate whispers to thunderous chords, the repertoire spans centuries.

The emotions are firmly in the moment.

It's not about perfection, it's about presence, the ability to invite a hall into your world and hold it note by note.

In this room, silence is not absence.

It's attention, nine voices each distinct.

The decision will be difficult.

The music made it so.

From the foothills of the Appalachians to the front of the world's stages, tonight, Oxford witnessed what dedication can do.

Rubato belongs to the artists who risk honesty on stage, to the mentors who shape them, and to a community that believes beauty can arrive anywhere, especially here.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] Every year, the world's most extraordinary young pianists gather, not for fame, not for fortune, but for something far more difficult to define, perfection.

- The original vision for the Rubato International Piano Competition was basically to create a platform to showcase young talent in the piano, which is the love of my life, right, and also what classical music and jazz, a truly American art form, and showcase these young talents, not just from all over the US, but from every single corner around the world, basically.

And everything started with a small phone call and just a small group of passionate people getting together and then became this snowball effect when the city of Oxford came in with their full support.

This entire community, this county, and the amazing state of Alabama as well, we have their full support, and we just became this beautiful and big, and became the largest international piano competition in the southeast of the United States, being the only one that features both classical music and solo jazz piano as well in a single event.

(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music continues) I think one of the unique things that made Rubato maybe different and special from other piano competitions out there that have been there for more than half a century, first of all, is the human aspect of being exposed to Southern hospitality, it's just so amazing.

Every single young competitor, you know, young kid from 10 all the way to 27 years old, every year, I say to them it doesn't matter if they win the gold medal or any category, or just they go home, they'll go home with a big smile because they all have made friends for life.

Some of them have changed their lives forever, because some of them, thanks to Rubato, got a visa to be in the United States and with this networking with adjudicators and their colleagues, they applied for music programs, and that changed their lives and their families' lives as well, because if they become successful, everyone that's around them benefits from it.

But we are, and you will see during the entire week that we're just way more, and we go beyond the piano competition.

We teach them things that will just serve them, not just to become a better pianist and musician or producer or composer, but also things that are gonna be very helpful for them in their future adult life for sure.

(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music continues) - The first vision that I would have of Rubato was listening to Julio, someone who had talent, discipline, a vision, and a heart that really wanted to help other artists that had talent do something wonderful.

I listened to how he was explaining other piano competitions and heard passion in that description.

I wanted to be a part of that.

I wanted to help make that happen.

To see these talented, very disciplined young people come from far and wide, some of them would even call saying, "How close is Oxford, Alabama to Washington, DC?"

They'd never even heard of probably Alabama.

And see them come off a plane, come here and enjoy Southern hospitality, compete with other artists, maybe their age or a little bit older, and they became just this neat group.

They became friends for life, although they were competing with one another.

It was thrilling.

It really was exciting.

Everyone coming in here, it didn't matter how exhausted or how far they came from, they would give it their all.

To see someone that disciplined, that talented, I would ask them, "How long do you practice when you're at home?"

"Oh, not long.

Maybe six or eight hours."

It just blew my mind.

And so for us to have that opportunity in the United States for both the classical and the jazz, there wasn't anything like this, and there definitely wasn't anything like this in the Southeast.

But if I were going to sum up Rubato, I would say it is a wonderful opportunity for artists who enjoy competing, they're disciplined, and they have a goal, and we're here to help them achieve it.

- [Narrator] Rubato is more than a competition.

It is a test of discipline, identity, and artistic truth.

Each performer brings years of sacrifice into a single moment.

(clapperboard clapping) - My name is Huan-Ching.

- My name is Enni Harlan.

- My name is Jake Nalangan.

- I am from Fremont, California.

- Originally from China - And I'm from Houston, Texas.

- I've been playing the piano since I was four.

- 14 years.

- 13 Years now.

(gentle piano music) - Yeah, I started not with a background in classical music, but just playing like pop songs, you know, covers of Coldplay and whatever on the piano.

And when I was in eighth grade, my band teacher exposed me to jazz.

He told me to apply for the jazz band.

I hadn't even really heard of what jazz was, but, you know, I loved the piano, so, you know, any way to play the piano.

And I got in, and since then it's sort of stuck, and it's what I've chosen to do as a career.

I heard about the competition a couple years ago from a teacher of mine.

So I did it, you know, the last time they were doing it, which was two years ago.

And, you know, I had a really great time, great experience just, you know, hanging out with people who have the same passion about the instrument that I do.

So that was really great.

You know, I wanted to return because I enjoyed it so much last time, and, you know, I'm not used to piano competitions.

It's not something I typically do, but, you know, a competition like this I feel is, you know, outside of the competitive aspect of it is really a great, just a great hang with the other musicians and everything.

So I feel I get a lot out of the experience regardless of, you know, win or lose or whatever.

- Last year, my friend was very lucky to win first prize at the Rubato International Piano Competition, and he highly recommended me to try for this wonderful competition.

So that's basically how I heard about this competition.

Yeah, so my friend basically introduced me a lot of wonderful things about Rubato.

I'm very glad that Rubato covers our accommodations, flight tickets, meals, and everything, which is very rare for most of the music competitions nowadays.

- Well, I saw that it was during the summer, so I kind of wanted a goal for myself to work towards.

And then I also saw that there was a jazz category, so I was really interested in what that would sound like.

- It seems different from a lot of competitions, because it seems more of a festival kind of format.

You know, we have master classes and more social interaction than most competitions, so it just seemed like a great learning experience.

- So I was actually a competitor in the second Rubato piano competition in 2023, and I really loved the experience.

I didn't become a finalist that year, so I decided to come back this year.

So I applied because the last time I was here, I met so many incredible different pianists from all sorts of different backgrounds, and it was really inspiring, and I really wanted to have that experience again.

(gentle piano music) - A few years ago, I was a student at the University of North Texas, and I was one of the schools that they sent out notices to a bunch of different schools around the country, and they sent out notices to my school.

And the other thing is that I have a friend, his name is Warit from Thailand, and he won it a few years ago, and he told me about his experience.

Well, I think the chance to perform before a really distinguished jury, and just network with some of the best pianists in the country is just an incredible experience, and I've learned a lot from listening to them.

- So I heard about Rubato through my professor, Dave Meder, who's one of the judges for this cycle.

So he had encouraged me to apply for it when it first opened up, like, a couple years ago, and now I took the chance to apply for it when I saw that it was opening again.

Yeah, just getting to know more people, that sounds awesome.

And the whole process for competing in these kind of helps you get better as a pianist.

The more you practice for it, the more it kind of helps you with other things.

So regardless of the outcome, I feel like the practice time has kind of helped me just in general.

- This competition is very unique because not only we have the regular competing session, we also have master classes.

We also have the big time entertainment nearby here, which is very, very fun.

And we also have, of course, a very good opportunity to make friends and to learn from also the judges.

- Well, it just seems like a really cool opportunity.

You know, there's not that many competitions that, like, you're able to come out to.

They cover your expenses.

It doesn't cost anything to be here.

That's a very rare thing.

And just in the music world on the whole, like, you really have to take experiences like this when you can, because it doesn't happen often.

So meeting these other incredible competitors and getting to know them, you know, that's like part of the reason, yeah.

- This is my first competition experience where I have to play multiple rounds, and I also thought it would be nice to visit a new place.

And I think the organization here, like, from what my friend told me, she said she had a really great experience here.

- I think it's important for, and I think every pianist thinks it's important for us to compete and try and get our names out there.

And I think the Rubato Piano Competition is a great way to get yourself out there, and it seems like a very well-organized competition, and it has been so far.

(gentle piano music) - [Narrator] Each contestant arrives with a different story, but they all share the same impossible goal.

- There was a young man who learned about the thunderstorms of the summer in the Southeast or the Midwest.

He was in another competition on the West Coast, and the poor guy was ping-ponged to, I think, four or five different airports.

You know, "We're gonna get you as far as Minneapolis or Chicago or..." I think he was in Boston, and then he ended up in Charlotte, and I thought I was just gonna have to drive to Charlotte to get the poor fellow.

And he ended up being able to come into Atlanta, but he had been ping-ponging for two days.

The first thing when he arrived, he wanted to know was, "Where's my piano?

Where can I rehearse?"

Such a level of dedication.

And the other, you know, contestants were rehearsing all over the building.

They were trying to make certain that they forfeited a piano.

They got him on one right away, because their heart went out to him.

So he rehearsed as hard as he could, and he made it to the hallway upstairs here, and then just fell sound asleep on the chairs in the hallway.

And as soon as he woke up, he wanted to go again.

He had his heart set on being here and giving it his all.

He didn't look to the past of what kind of sacrifice to get here, or how grueling it was, or the circumstances, how they became out of control.

He just was looking forward, and that was inspiring.

It was just the best thing I had seen, just the discipline and dedication, and he had that determination to add to it.

- So I practice, like, all the time.

(chuckles) Couple of weeks leading up to the competition, I start running through the program, so not taking a break between each of the pieces.

And then after I finish running through, I'll take notes, or I'll write down the mental notes that I had in my head while I was performing, and then slowly work through the piece again.

But I think, yeah, leading up to the competition, it's just a lot of running through the program so that I make sure I have the stamina to be able to do it in the competition.

(gentle piano music) - A lot of running through the material and timing it, because there's strict time requirements, and I have to make sure that even when I'm improvising, that I stay conscious of the time.

The other thing is that I like to take each of the pieces that I'm doing and experiment doing them in different styles or grooves, because I really never know what I'm gonna feel like doing when I get on stage.

(gentle piano music) - So during the competitions, I try to not over-practice, because from my previous experiences, whenever I over-practice, I will play really, really badly on stage.

So I would just try to, I try to do more mental practicing than the actual physical thing.

Yeah, and I'll also try to just simply look at the score and to take some notes maybe.

(gentle piano music) - Mentally, the thing about music is like, especially for me, and I think for jazz, it's all about just having fun.

So it's important to remember that nobody's here to hurt anyone else or anything.

It's all just in good fun, and we're all just playing music.

So I need to remember that I'm very fortunate, regardless, to just be playing music in front of people and sharing my experience through music.

So that's sort of how I prepare mentally is remembering that it's not as serious as we like to make it out to be sometimes in our minds.

(gentle piano music) - Well, for me, I will run through my program every day, especially in two rounds, but of course I will lean more in the semi-final round because it happens first, and who knows what will happen like in the final round.

So this is what I do.

And of course, do some practice details and just keep polishing and try to be chill.

Yeah, not too nervous, yes.

(gentle piano music) For example, during the run-through that I had done in the past few days, I would imagine myself already on the stage in front of the judges and audience.

So when I go to the real stage, it helps me to relieve my nervousness and also makes me more like more freedom and reminds me of this is the thing that I have done before, so yes.

- [Narrator] What appears effortless on stage is built upon months of invisible work.

Behind every performance is an entire world.

- When we first began, and we had very young artists that would win a position in the semi-finalist, some of them as young as 10 years old, possibly their parents were not attending with them.

And the thought, especially for Southern hospitality, that a young, talented artist might come without parents, we wanted to find host families that would welcome them, keep them safe, make certain that they were where they needed to be when.

And we also wanted to provide for the parents confirmation that we were going to care for them, their safety, make certain that it was a positive experience for them and that they had every opportunity to compete as anyone else on that stage.

(lively piano music) (lively piano music continues) (lively piano music continues) (lively piano music continues) (lively piano music continues) - When I see one of these young talents on stage, what happens, first of all, is that I see myself.

I was born and raised in the Republic of Argentina, that's the reason why I have this funny accent.

And I fell in love with the piano when I was four years old.

I started taking piano lessons.

I come from a very, very humble background, from a very poor family in South America.

And piano and art and music helped me to find my passion at a very, very early age, which is not usual, you know, sometimes it takes decades to find out what you're passionate about and learn.

And gave me the opportunity later in life, the huge blessing of being able to come to the United States of America, the greatest nation ever known, and which is a wonderful country that opens all doors for you if your mind and your heart are in the right place, and you are willing to be disciplined, following the rules, and have a willingness to work very smart and hard both and play the long game.

Basically, what we wanted to create in my first approach to this, putting together this competition alongside with all my colleagues here, was to create a platform to help others to have what I have and give what this wonderful country, this community, and my passion for art and music, and especially the piano, did for me in my life, at an early age and now as a professional here in the US.

(lively piano music) I think there's just many moments that have whoo me when I just walked through any hallway here in the beautiful Oxford Performing Arts Center when we host Rubato.

I do remember one day, of course, I'm super busy 24/7 during the entire week, seeing one of the competitors, the little ones, who can barely reach the pedals.

I'm talking about a 12-year-old, a couple years ago, and his dad, it was a Korean family, his dad, he was sitting with him as he was practicing.

And that reminded me of my childhood when I was practicing for hours and my dad was behind me, supporting me, just being absolutely quiet, but he was there, he would drive me to take my piano lessons, he would take me to auditions, to competitions.

And so I say, "Well, I'm doing it for someone else, and we are all doing it for someone else what my dad did for years for me."

So, and he completely changed my life forever, for good.

Yeah, that was a very touching moment.

I have many, many others, especially coming from their parents, you know, some of these young talents are being showcased in so many competitions out there.

We have some of them being part of the Lang Lang Foundation.

Some of them right after Rubato applied for the most prestigious schools and music programs in the US, and they've been accepted to Jacobs School of Music, Juilliard, they make us all proud, and some of them have won so many international competitions, so we are very proud.

And I think that's the part that moved me the most, you know, the support behind the competitor, basically, there's an entire family supporting.

That's the only way that you can get that level of artistic proficiency and the level of artist and that kindness in a human being, yes.

(lively piano music) I think the most important thing that Rubato or a piano competition teaches you is that when you are only at home, practice is just for practicing, that's one kind of practice.

When you have to practice knowing there's going to be a specific day and time that you have to get on stage by yourself and you cannot blame anyone for screwing things up or being wonderful, you know?

All the mistakes are, when you have to pay for those mistakes, and all the glory, if everything goes well, is you, right?

So I think it's very, very important for young talents to go to international piano competitions and learn as much as they can from someone who's practicing right next to you, from that jury panel that's giving you the masterclass, because when you prepare yourself with a purpose, with a specific north, let's say, it is completely different for you when you expose yourself with your strengths and weaknesses as well to grow not only as a pianist for the technicalities and all of that, but also as a musician, you're always gonna learn something new from someone who knows more than you in some specific thing, you know?

And also, it's gonna make you grow as a human, you know, make you more humble and kind, which is very important in this career.

(lively piano music) I think the most important thing that piano and music in general helps to build bridges between cultures, basically, is that we, especially today, right, well deep into the 21st century with new technologies, AI, social media platforms, and all of that, and our young people being exposed from a very early age to these things, is that we also live in a very polarized world, not just in the United States of America, but all over the world.

That's a tendency, right?

From both sides of the spectrum in politics and all of that, and that affects us all in our daily lives.

So you see that media and world leaders and politicians and culture and entertainment are sometimes very obsessed in reminding you the things that make us all different, whereas music, piano, art, and all of that, it's just there to celebrate beautiful things that make us all very special and unique.

The love for music, art, life, celebrate with our families, friends, and colleagues is very important.

So I think Rubato, that's exactly what Rubato is, you know?

In music and art, it's a celebration of all the things, it doesn't matter if you grew up in Buenos Aires, in a poor neighborhood in Bolivia, if you're from the South in the United States or you live in New York City, we all have things in common, and it's a world obsessed with telling us we have things that make us different.

This brings us all together for something that is meaningful and important in life.

(lively piano music) I think if I can share just one message with a young talent visiting us in Rubato, is that if I did it and I made it, you also can do it.

Just have the willingness to play the long game.

I know it's hard because we live in a world where some people cannot get their attention in a 30-second take of video, but you are way much better than that, stronger, and your will and your discipline will take you farther in life, and you will benefit, you will have a meaningful, happy, and beautiful life.

And that's what we should aim.

(lively piano music) (audience applauding) - [Narrator] For over a century, the piano has been both instrument and partner.

At Rubato, every detail matters.

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That is a very tough question.

And I have to say, I can go on and dissect a performance, you know, as well as I hope any of my colleagues can.

But I also tell people that it doesn't matter whether you are a professional musician or just somebody who simply wandered into the hall because they heard sounds of music.

If you hear a performance that's truly special, you will know it.

Whether you're a musician or a non-musician, you will know when something is truly special.

What makes it special?

People wrote millions of pages on that subject.

I don't presume to, you know, have a definitive answer on that, but everybody knows, everybody feels it.

I think it goes back to communicating and being fearless.

People feel when somebody's sincere and open, or merely manufactures those messages or those feelings.

- Technical mastery is the prerequisite for artistic interpretation.

So as a judge, it's not always easy to separate the two, because I think kind of one hand feeds the other, so to speak.

Very appropriate for a piano competition, right?

But artistic interpretation is what matters in the end, I believe.

That's the human element that makes us feel something.

- Yeah, the balancing of technical mastery skills and artistic interpretation it's the most challenging thing because, you know, we as musicians, we tend to constantly discuss this matter, you know, what it means.

I think at the end of the day, to me, it's what music touches my heart or not, regardless of technicality or regardless of anything.

It's whatever is performed, it touches my heart, or has the potential to touching people's minds and hearts.

I think that's what, to me, what leads me to evaluate something.

Like historically, you know, music was something, wasn't a profession, was something that was shared in every town.

You know, that was something where everybody would participate regardless of your education.

And historically it's been people who touch people with music and people who don't.

And it's not related to skills or mastery.

It's related to connection to hearts, to be able to write something or to play something in a way that touches people's hearts, as I mentioned before.

- I think we can all think of performances that we have attended that have changed us in some sort of way.

I remember being 18 years old and listening to Lazar Berman, and I was mesmerized by his performance, which, at least from what I remember, the first half of that concert was not as accurate as I thought it would be, but there was something just still so powerful in his performance.

So I think that communication, just having that free open heart that can really share their passion for music, their passion for what they're playing, and that ability to reach the audience, that's what makes it so memorable.

- Artistic interpretation is far more important than technical mastery.

That's not to say that technical mastery is not important, because they are two sides of the same coin as it were.

You have to be able to say what you want to say very, very well, of course.

But what you are saying is the most important thing.

And actually, that's not so easy to judge in a certain way.

There's not a fixed message for each piece.

There is right and wrong, as it were, but there could be an unusual or unique interpretation that I haven't thought about before that a student might bring in their performance.

That I would very much like to hear and very much like to pay attention to, as opposed to just checking off boxes saying, "Yes, they got this crescendo.

Yes, they got that difficult passage," or something like that.

- When I listen and evaluate the performance, what I try to do is not at once analyze it, but just keep an open mind and see if the performer communicates to me.

Sometimes I tell my students that I have no answers, but I trust my instincts.

And so that is what guides me in my judgments as well.

I trust my instincts to tell me if something speaks directly.

And that's what I react to the most and first.

And further down, if there's several performances that communicate on that level, then of course we have to make choices, and everything goes into that, the choice of repertoire, the level of mastery, solidity, consistency.

Then we just break it down to, you know, technical level, use of pedal, how the tone is, is the balance good, and all those things that go into, you know, playing the instrument beautifully.

But first and foremost, it's about communication.

It's about being fearless, being open, being sincere, knowing that you have something to say, and trying to say it to the best of your ability.

- [Dave] A truly memorable pianist makes me feel connected to my own humanity, gives me a sense of connection to something in my own life.

You know, I think that's a powerful performer.

If a performer doesn't know who you are or where you come from, but yet can conjure up some sort of personal memory or personal experience, that's the power of a great artist.

- [Elio] Qualities that distinguish a memorable pianist from a skilled one, if that was the question.

I think for me, it's almost going back to the same principle.

What is, after the performance, what I was left with.

I was left with, just to put in a technical aspect, I was left to skills up back and forth, or I was left with something that is beauty, represents beauty, represents elevation, something that represents culture, that represents personality.

There's nothing wrong with copying the history of other, you know, works, but I think I always hope like when people perform other people's music, let's say, they put their own personality to it, make the music that they're performing their own, almost as if they were the composers.

For me, that's what distinguishes one to the other.

- To me, it's very important that a musician is able to communicate.

Music is a form of communication.

It is necessary to have the technical skills to be able to communicate in an efficient and compelling way, but I'm always interested in hearing the individual voice of each individual performer.

That's what I think can reach the audience.

So it is a combination of that mastery of skill, but also the ability to communicate, to engage the audience through their music-making.

- [Narrator] Every note is heard.

Every interpretation evaluated.

The difference between victory and defeat can be invisible.

- I feel like less nervous in a way, because like I already did the best I can do, so the rest is just up to whatever.

- Honestly, kind of exhausted.

It's been a lot of performances nonstop, but I feel very relieved, and very grateful to be here.

- I was a little disappointed in my performance.

I thought I could have done better.

I think I was worrying too much in the moment and not focusing on what was important.

- Honestly, I think at this point in the competition, I'm just excited.

I was definitely really nervous before today, but now that I'm a finalist, I think it feels a lot less nerve-wracking to me because I just wanted to play my Bartok "Out of Doors" with the audience, and I think I'll get to do that.

- I played a lot of the pieces before coming here in concerts, and I played them for other people, so I did run through them a lot and there were like a variety of outcomes.

And I think if I want to compare how I performed before the competition to how I performed at the competition, I think it went about what I expected.

Maybe it was, I was a little bit more nervous, and it was a little bit colder on stage than I expected, but.

- I'm feeling good.

Very happy to be playing for the finals.

You know, I obviously wasn't sure what was gonna happen because everybody here is so talented, but I'm very happy to be sharing more music with people.

- I feel, of course, a little bit tired since the nervousness and the pressure has been with me in the few days.

But right now I feel more of a relief, but still I have another performance tonight, so I'll try my best to give it my all on stage, but right now it's feeling great, yeah.

- I think I still feel a little bit stressed, because I still have one performance to do in the evening, but overall I'm kind of, I can relax a little bit, yeah.

- I feel relieved and I'm excited to be participating in the final round.

- I think that I was pretty satisfied with my interpretations and what I was able to express on stage.

I felt more comfortable each round and I think I was, I felt pretty happy about what I was able to give with my performances.

- Yeah, there are definitely some that are worse than I thought, but definitely like the first couple tunes were pretty like not good, because I was still getting used to the piano, getting used to the environment and then all the pressure coming from like the judges and everything.

But like after a couple days, I kind of got used to it, so the performance was like closer to what I usually practice.

- So personally, when I was practicing at home, I would do like run-through performances, and I think there's definitely a difference between performing for like a very small audience or no audience, versus like a live audience, and also in a large hall of judges.

Personally, I definitely, I think I put more into the live performance.

It felt a lot more unique to me.

It felt like I was giving more of myself to the performance.

- I'm feeling excited that I made it into the final round, but I'm also nervous to perform tonight.

- Definitely I try my best to not have expectations for how I'll play, especially in jazz, 'cause there's so much that's unpredictable that changes, but you know, it's never what you expect, and it's definitely been, you know, there's always some challenges involved, especially in this format of playing solo piano as opposed to with a band, which is what I'm more used to.

- So I think I try to communicate what I have.

Of course, it's, I mean, you can always, it can always be better, but I'm overall happy with it.

- Please welcome to this stage Rubato 2025 nine finalists.

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(audience applauding) - Competitions like the Rubato International Piano Competition are absolutely invaluable in providing students the kind of challenge that cannot be achieved by merely studying or even preparing for a performance.

Even if a performance is judged, you're the only one that's being judged at the moment.

In a competition, you psychologically know that it's not just your performance.

There's 6 or 10 or maybe 12 other people that are performing.

And that makes you prepare and challenge yourself to a degree that just training, even at a top conservatory, does not pull out of you.

And you ultimately become a much stronger, much better instrumentalist at your instrument, not just pianist, but on any instrument.

And that's one of the challenges that people face.

They see if they can meet the challenges, if they can rise to them.

Not everybody will have the outcome that they hope for.

How do they deal with that outcome?

Do they have a positive attitude about it?

You know, does it crush them?

So a lot of outcomes come from participating in a competition.

And I always tell my students that it's really not about the winning.

It's about the process and trying yourself, and ultimately becoming the better version of yourself.

- Competitions, again, they can be very difficult, but at the end of the day, they give students motivation, and motivation is a very powerful tool.

We need a little bit of discomfort and stress and drive in our lives to be able to achieve the things we want to achieve.

And competitions do that.

This particular competition, Rubato, is very interesting, it has a very interesting structure, allowing pianists to interface between classical and jazz.

And so at the end of the day, I think that provides a great deal of inspiration and motivation to students moving forward.

- We're gonna find out who is the audience favorite in the classical category ages 10 to 18.

And the audience favorite goes to Mr.

Hiroshi Corro from California.

Congratulations, Hiroshi.

(audience applauding) It goes to Mr.

Jake Nalangan.

Congratulations, Jake.

An amazing musician.

(audience applauding) Ms.

Celine Chen.

(audience applauding) Ms.

Enni Harlan.

Congratulations, Enni.

(audience applauding) Brahm Sasner from California.

(audience applauding) Jiusi Zhang.

(audience applauding) Congratulations.

Now is the time for gold.

Okay, John, the next medal goes to Marina Lomazov again.

It's gonna be classical category ages 18, sorry, 10 years old all the way to 18 years old.

And the gold this year, and 10,000 American dollars, and the invitation for a gala concert next August here on this stage goes to Shixun Song from Massachusetts, United States of America.

(audience applauding) Congratulations.

Thank you.

And the gold medal in the jazz category goes to Mr.

Tomas Jonsson.

Congratulations, Tomas.

(audience applauding) He's also getting 10,000 American dollars, and coming back next August for a showcase concert.

Congratulations.

In the classical category, ages 19 to 27 years old goes to Mr.

Huan-Ching Chou.

Congratulations, Huan-Ching.

(audience applauding) A harmony of gold.

What an amazing performance.

Thank you so much to everyone.

We're gonna see you next year.

Have a good night.

One more time for all these amazing performances.

It's our pleasure and privilege to have you here.

Thank you, adjudicators.

Thank you so much.

- [Narrator] For some, this moment is triumph.

For others, it is something more complicated, but for all, it is unforgettable.

(gentle piano music) - Rubato reframes it as more of like a learning experience.

So I think it taught me to approach competitions in a more, like putting less pressure on myself and thinking about it more as an ability to grow and continue learning, because like with the masterclass opportunities, like I said, that was an experience that I don't usually have at competitions.

So I think Rubato has taught me to treat competitions more, like treat myself more kindly in competitions, and to just honor the experience.

- I think it's made me focus more in performance on just letting go and not caring about technique or notes, and just focusing on all of my ideas, and just enjoying the music and the stage and the audience.

- Like in a competition perspective, probably, like, just trying to learn more to enjoy the moment when I play and then not care about anyone's opinions, 'cause I used to care so much how people looked at me, and then that tended to give me more pressure, and then I'll, usually, like, screw up my performance.

But it's like a training purpose to, like, shut the nerves off in my brain.

- I would say since the last time I've been here, which was 2023, sometimes it's hard to see your own personal growth because, you know, you're yourself and you're experiencing your own life every day.

But honestly, looking back, I can definitely say that I've matured as both a musician and a person, both in like my stage presence and in the way I view music as a whole.

I would say to me now music is more of almost like a universal gift instead of something that I'm just practicing for.

This is kind of cliche, but I would say like music is definitely like a lifestyle instead of something that you just do.

- I think any performance helps you feel more normal.

I think, let me explain that.

Like the more of this sort of performing I do, or competing, the more it feels normal and natural.

Like as with anything, like riding a bike or playing the piano, I guess, like the more you do it, the not easier, but the more you get used to it.

And I think that's what I've taken away from the Rubato competition, because we get a lot of chances to perform, like the masterclasses and performing twice in a round.

- It's changed my perspective as a musician, you know, dealing with playing for judges throughout the week and playing for a live audience, all alone, playing unprepared music.

It's all very stressful, of course.

So sort of it's just, I've, you know, had to learn to deal with the stress of a competition like this.

So it's definitely, I've been learning how to work with that stress, yeah.

- This is a very new experience for me.

As I've mentioned, I have an experience like in one competition that has both classical and jazz, but also another thing is that we have a unique schedule, which is we have a concert session, we also have a competition session.

So for me, I feel like I gain more performance opportunities for sure and also experience.

So yeah, this is what I think.

- So I think this competition is unique in the way that I think it actually combines competition and a kind of festival, because so normally in the morning we perform for the judges and then in the evening we perform for live audiences.

I really love this way of like organizing a musical event, I think.

I mean, I think performing is really about sharing, and I think this is exactly the point that Rubato makes.

So I think it's really wonderful.

- If I wish to leave any of the contestants with one final thought for their career it would be, be original, be yourself, enjoy music, and don't take it too seriously.

- In my teaching, I try to focus on four things in music, truth, love, beauty, and joy.

Those are the things which I want in the sound.

Those are the things which I want in the message of the piece.

Those things are the most important as a musician.

Whether you become a performing pianist that you make your living performing or teaching, or doing something else in music, that is in truth beside the point.

The music that we experience and the music that we practice and the music that we enjoy and learn from, that is the most important thing.

The art is more important than the profession, as it were.

It's important to earn your living, of course.

We all want to do that.

But it is important always to keep the art as free as possible from that kind of thinking, professional thinking beyond it.

- It's a great question.

What would I tell, if there was one thing I could tell to all the contestants, what would that be?

I'll tell you what I tell young people when they have these kinds of talks often.

I tell them a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

And it's an old Chinese proverb, and I live by it every day.

Make small steps, but make them every day, and you will achieve your destination sooner than you think you would.

(gentle piano music) - [Narrator] The competition ends, but the music does not.

These performers will leave this stage.

They will travel the world.

They will grow, struggle, and evolve, and somewhere years from now, they will sit at another piano and begin again.

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