Elon University had the honor of hosting the 2012 IBLA grand prize recipients in Whitley Auditorium last Monday. Elon was the second-to-last stop on the world tour, which ended last Thursday evening.

Dr. Victoria Fischer Faw, a music professor, and Dr. Salvatore Moltisanti, IBLA Foundation president, presented IBLA’s International Grand Prize Competition Winners in concert.

“We plan for this to be an annual event,” Fischer Faw said.

The performers loved the auditorium and the piano and told Fischer Faw it was one of their favorite venues throughout their world tour. They went straight from Elon to perform at Carnegie Hall.

The performances featured chamber musicians, piano, cello and accordion.

While Elon is a seemingly random and small town to host such amazing international talent, the relationship between IBLA and North Carolina goes way back.

“We have cultivated (a relationship) with North Carolina for quite some time and we have an old friend of ours there: Dr. Fischer Faw,” said Moltisanti. “We actually know each other. Twenty-three or 24 years ago, Dr. Fischer was the winner of a competition in Virginia and the following year I was the winner of the same competition and she was a jury member at the time when I competed. We’ve known each other as pianists since then.”

Fischer Faw fondly remembers her success in that competition.

“In 1980, I won first place at the International Bartok Kabalevsky Competition at Radford University,” Fischer Faw said. “Included in the prize was to come back the next year. I had the honor to judge the finals of (the) next year’s competition with the famous Bartok.”

Moltisanti started the IBLA Foundation in 1992.

“Here I am, a judge of the competition,” Fischer Faw said, “The winner then was Salvatore Moltisanti. That’s how we met and he invited me then to serve on the jury of IBLA and I did that for several years. Then I didn’t for a long time and last year I did again for the first time in quite a few years. And so I invited the members to come to Elon as part of their tour.“

Moltisanti had not even graduated when the IBLA Foundation began to form.

“At the time I was student at the North Carolina School of the Arts,” Moltisanti said, “and when I was a student, as part of my school project I started this foundation, which is the IBLA Foundation.”

The IBLA Foundation has always had close ties to North Carolina and the surrounding areas. They play at many venues, ranging from churches to universities, Fischer Faw said.

The location of the actual competition event sparked the foundation’s name. The IBLA Foundation, which organizes the competition annually, is in New York City, but the actual event takes place in Ragusa-Ibla, Italy, in the southeastern corner of Sicily. IBLA is the name of the UNESCO World Heritage ancient Baroque quarters of Ragusa-Ibla. Ragusa and Ibla are two sister cities built on two 300 meters hills. Ibla is the ancient city and Ragusa is the more modern one. The 2013 IBLA music competition will be held July 9 through July 19.

The IBLA Foundation is a volunteer organization. The donations they receive go directly toward careers of the talented musicians who compete. The winners of the annual competition perform around the world. World-class performers came from all over the globe, including countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

The music included Bach, Verdi, Puccini, Liszt, Chopin, Ginastera, Prokofiev, Bartok, Oskar Merikanto and other classical masters, as well as works written or improvised by the pianists and composers on the program. According to Moltisanti, there is “classical music and contemporary music, a wide range.”

Pianists, singers, instrumentalists and composers are all invited to perform in the annual music competition.  Winners are presented the following year in such venues as Carnegie Hall in New York, Tokyo Opera City Hall and other prestigious venues in Canada, Europe and the United States.

“We gather together, musicians coming from all over the world,” Moltisanti said. “They play every day and there is a jury panel.”

The IBLA Grand Prize 2013 International Jury and Advisory Board also come from all around the world. The panel is made up of music school faculty and directors from countries like Italy, Serbia, The Netherlands, South Korea, Poland, Syria and many more.

The competition has separate age brackets to ensure fair decisions. Competitors that are seven to 23 years old are split up between four groups. Anyone 24 and over is considered an adult.

Competitors have the freedom to choose what music they will perform for the jury.

“This is not a school jury, therefore you do not have to show that you know a variety of style or a variety of languages (singers) or that you are in general a good student,” the IBLA website reads. “You are expected to perform music you feel you perform at its best. The program should represent your musicianship, your taste, your passion, your expertise, your identity in the music world or what you wish to be known for. Very creative programs are encouraged.”

Participants are not notified until the night before as to what time they will perform for the jury. Winners do not receive any cash awards, but they are invited to perform at prestigious locations around the world. The winners are not ranked into traditional first, second and third places. They are divided into top winners and special award or mention recipients.

Top winners get invited to most events while the special award or mention recipients get invitations to the events based on the discretion of the IBLA Foundation Board of Trustees. Top winners are usually able to travel while performing with all expenses paid.