The finalists for the 2019 Geoffrey Parsons Award have been announced, with four hopefuls in the running for Australia’s most enduring and significant prize for collaborative piano performance.

Geoffrey Parsons. Photo © Malcolm Crowthers/Wigmore Hall

Competing for the $6000 Award this year are Mekhla Kumar, with associate artist Thomas Marlin (cello); Adam McMillan, with associate artist Anna Freer (violin); Simón Pazos-Quintana, with associate artist Anna Freer (violin); and Stephen van der Hoek, with associate artists Greg Tuske (cello) and Anthony Waack (voice).

Each will be required to present a 20-25-minute recital with their associates, including the first movement of Brahms’ Sonata for Clarinet and Piano No 1 in F Minor with Guest Artist Dean Newcomb, in the final held on September 15. The jury is to be chaired by pianist David Miller.

The Geoffrey Parsons Award is presented annually by the Accompanists’ Guild of South Australia, which was founded to elevate the importance of the accompanist in classical music. The Award was renamed in memory of pianist Geoffrey Parsons after his death in 1995. A founding international patron of the Guild, Parsons was a distinguished pianist who accompanied many of the world’s leading singers in recital....