Making the Queen's slate

My work on Leon Fleisher's upcoming memoir has given me a particular sense of closeness to the Queen Elisabeth Competition, which Fleisher was the first American to win in 1952. This year, piano is up once again; the 12 finalists have been chosen, and the finals will be streamed live all this week, starting today (8 p.m. in Brussels; 2 p.m. on the East Coast). The finalists' required piece is a new sonata by the recently-announced winner of the competition's composition prize, Jeon Minje; the other piece is a concerto of the contestant's choice, conducted by Marin Alsop. For those who can't clear the decks in the middle of the day, the videos will be available on demand within 24 hours after the performance, and through September.