Competition secretary holds the reins

The Maj Lind Piano Competition is a hectic time not only for the contestants and the jury but for the organisers as well. And who would know this better than Competition Secretary Anna Krohn, the lady responsible for the entire running of the competition down to the smallest detail? Despite working days stretching to thirteen hours, Anna always has a smile and a kind answer to every question that comes her way. How did she come to be working on the Maj Lind Competition?

“My competition career began 18 years ago when I came to work at the Sibelius Academy,” says Anna. “I’ve been the Competition Secretary ever since. I began working on the present competition a couple of years ago. At the beginning of 2005 the Rector of the Sibelius Academy appointed the Competition Committee and I had to get the Competition Rules out on the net.” The preparations have taken up a lot of time over the past two years or so, but everything culminates in the competition itself. “The busiest time is always when the results are announced. We then have to draw up the rehearsal schedules as quickly as possible, because the next stage begins the very next morning.” Having to attend to many things in a very short time is, says Anna, the most challenging part of the job.

Once the competition begins, most of the working day passes following the performances with the jury. One might imagine that a jury representing many nationalities and cultures is not the easiest of working environments, but according to Anna there have not been any problems: “Naturally they all have their own, sometimes very divergent opinions, but they all get along terribly well together. There are no signs of any cliques. Though they can’t discuss the contestants, they find plenty of other things to talk about.”

The most rewarding aspect of the Secretary’s job is, for Anna, working with others. “The contestants and judges – they’re such lovely people. I’m sorry there’s not time to get to know all the contestants, but the jury becomes all the more familiar.”

Jukka Nykänen