The judges of the 2012 Sydney International Piano Competition have whittled down the pickings from 36 hopefuls to six finalists, who will battle it out in two rounds of piano concertos at the Sydney Opera House.

Finalists

Mikhail Berestnev, Slavyensk-on-Kuban, Russia

Tanya Gabrielian, USA

Nikolay Khozyainov, Amurskaya, Russia

Dmitry Onishchenko, Lviv, Ukraine

Avan Yu, Canada

Hao Zhu, Jiang Su Province, China

The six finalists play two concertos each with the Sydney Symphony from July 17 – 21, with Nicholas Carter conducting in Mozart and Dr Nicholas Milton at the podium for 19th and 20th-century repertoire.

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