It has yet to be seen what effect the tie will have on future contestants or on the prestige of the competition.
By MIRIAM SHAVIVroman rabinovich 88 224(photo credit: Courtesy )
The bizarre decision not to award a first prize in the prestigious Arthur Rubinstein piano competition did not seem to bother either of the two second-place winners.
But it has yet to be seen what effect the tie will have on future contestants or on the prestige of the competition. The judges decided on Thursday night that Ching-Yun Hu of Taiwan, 22, and Roman Rabinovich of Israel, 26, would share the honor and the prize money (both will walk away with $15,000). But no one won the $25,000 first prize.
The tri-annual event, which has been nicknamed "The Piano Olympics," has never seen two winners share first place. Rabinovich also won an additional $2,000 Encouragement Award to an Israeli competitor.
The $10,000 third place prize went to Khatia Buniatishvili, 20, of Georgia. She also won $3,000 in earlier stages of the competition for Best Performer of a Chopin piece and $1,000 as the audience favorite in Eilat.
The competition's three finalists will play recitals in Ramat Hasharon, Haifa, Rehovot, Ganei Am, Ashdod and Jerusalem through April 6.
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
