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27th Annual Celia Mendez Young Pianist’s Beethoven Competition
April 6, 2013, Concert Hall, San José State University
The Young Pianist's Beethoven competition was founded in 1987 by Celia Méndez, a San José private piano teacher, with the purpose of being an artistic learning experience, a pedagogical tool for California High School students in the process of understanding the interpretation of Beethoven's piano sonatas. Consistent with this purpose, the "prize" of the competition is participation in a master class given to the three finalists by an internationally renowned artist.
Final Competition: 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. free admission.
Masterclass with Stephan Moeller: 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. $15 general, $10 students under 25 and seniors 65 and above. Download ticket order form (pdf).
Stephan Moeller first gained prominence as a prizewinner at the 1985 International Beethoven Competition in Vienna. Since then his busy concert schedule has taken him to Japan, China, North and South America as well as all over Europe. Performing all the standard repertory, Stephan Möller has concentrated especially on the interpretation of the Viennese classics, in particular Beethoven’s thirty-two sonatas, as well as on Franz Liszt’s paraphrases of Wagner opera scenes and transcriptions of Beethoven symphonies. Among his CD recordings, there are such rarities as Beethoven's “Grosse Fuge” and the complete piano works of Wagner. Born in Hamburg, Germany, Stephan Möller studied piano and conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. From 1983 to 1989 he assisted Herbert von Karajan and other world-renowned conductors at the Salzburg Festival. In 1990 he took up an appointment at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He is president of the Vienna International Pianists Association and their festival, the “VIP Academy.”
