The young pianist, Adam Balogh, although he qualified himself, still withdrew from the Canadian competition due to the Russo-Ukrainian war. His statement as follows:
“After thinking long and hard about it, I would like to announce my withdrawal from Honens piano competition following their ban on all Russian competitors. Please allow me to write a few thoughts, though I want to make this as short as possible.
I am horrified every day by the war happening in Ukraine, I can not even imagine what it must be like for those who are personally involved. It is heartbraking seeing and hearing from collegues what they and their families are having to go through. It is completely unacceptable to support this unprovoked attack in any way. My thoughts are with those suffering, all the time.
As far as I understand, Honens wanted to make a strong statement by banning all Russian competitors, and I am doing my best to understand and respect that choice. I support western sanctions towards Russia, but for me personally it only makes sense if there is a clear target, directly or indirectly. Here most Russian candidates already have publicly spoken against the war. I do not understand what this decision achieves other than making the divisions between people who might even think the same, even deeper…
Yes, this situation is not black an white. And we all strive to help somehow or do our part. But I strongly belive this is not the right way. However, my withdrawal has much more practical reasons behind it as well. I find myself feeling I would be taking part in an unfair contest. Suddenly removing 6 out of 50 people, significantly affects this competition. It doesn’t feel right for me personally to ignore; my chances just got higher. Maybe this is an insignificant change, but it still makes me feel better to take a step back. I want to make this clear, I am not suggesting anyone who does take part, is doing anything wrong. There are just my personal feelings, that I have been considering in the last days.
As a final comment, 14 of the contestants, including me, wrote long letters suggesting alternatives, possible clauses to this ban. I am sure Honens had considered these alternatives already, but I find it disapponting to see their answer below: no will to have any discussion. This competition was one of the ones that felt closest to me, with the vision of a complete artist, a slightly different approach. I hope I will have the chance to try again with different conditions, but this is not the time for me.”