It wasn’t quite the doomed band on the Titanic playing on heroically, but the finalists in this year’s Australian national piano award were faced with an unexpected challenge as the flood water rose around the Riverlinks Eastbank theatre in Shepparton, where the event’s semi-final stage was due to finish on Friday.
“That would be a very dramatic way of putting it,” said Anthony Chen, 27, although he said he had never experienced conditions like it in his musical career.
Nine pianists have been competing for more than $65,000 in prize money over the past four days at the venue, which is not far from the Goulburn River.
The Goulburn in its full form at the Goulburn suspension bridge expecting major flooding in Shepparton over the weekend, keep updated @sheppartonnews pic.twitter.com/vk4UWrRF2e
— Patrick Morrow (@MrPatrickMorrow) October 14, 2022
The performers each played two 45-minute solo recitals on a Steinway bought especially for the competition.
But the final round of the competition, previously scheduled for Saturday, had to be folded into Friday due to the extreme weather conditions.
Organisers said the grand final and presentation of prizes had to be brought forward “due to the imminent floods risk in Shepparton and advice from the Greater Shepparton city council”.
Major flooding was reported along the river at Seymour on Friday and the Bureau of Meteorology said it expected Shepparton to be hard hit on Saturday, with the peak likely to arrive on Tuesday at levels close to the May 1974 flood.
Flooding at Seymour.
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) October 14, 2022
The Premier @DanielAndrewsMP is surveying the damage from the air @abcmelbourne #springst pic.twitter.com/P4RuiexNq0
A spokesperson for the competition said the organisers were acting on the best available advice during an evolving situation.
“Our priority is to finish the prize and then there is the complex logistical challenge of ensuring everyone involved is able to leave for Melbourne in order to catch their flight home, some interstate,” he said. “The advice is to leave as quickly and safely as possible.”
Chen did not make it into the final five but said the event was certainly memorable for the circumstances.
“To have it conflict with a state of emergency and natural disaster event [is] definitely a first,” Chen said on Friday. “I am staying by the riverbank of the Goulburn River. Throughout the week it’s been raining and I’ve been watching the river rise.
“Today we woke up to hear that the SES may want to use the civic centre as an evacuation building, so the finals had to be cancelled tomorrow and are happening right now instead.”
Chen, who is from Sydney, said he would remember the competition for the “lessons learned” to improve his performance, but “this weather event will be a close second”.
