Ryan MacEvoy McCullough from Eureka is one of 36 contestants that have been chosen to compete in The Sydney International Piano Contest (SIPCA), which will continue in Sydney Australia until August 2.

Ryan began playing the piano when he was just 5 and started to seriously practice at the age of 11. After graduating from High School, he left Humboldt County to study at The Colburn conservatory under John Perry. Although Ryan has competed in piano competitions in Paris and throughout California, SIPCA represents an important new opportunity for him.

It attracts more musician applications than any other piano competition in the world and insists on conducting live auditions in several international locations to ensure an equal opportunity to those from outside of Australia. The 36 finalists, culled down from 240 people who auditioned, range in age from 17-30, and hail from countries as diverse as China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Spain and Japan. Ryan is one of only four Americans chosen to compete in Sydney. Two of the others, David Fung and Chun-Chieh Yen, are Ryan's friends from The Colburn Conservatory.

Ryan described the audition process as having been extremely rigorous.

”There were essentially two rounds that preceded the seven I will potentially have to play over the next three weeks in Sydney.” Ryan explained. “The first was a tape round that included a large application package with letters of recommendation, resume, and so on, then a live audition in Los Angeles, one of at least a dozen international audition locations, for the chairman of the competition and two other established musicians.”

Although Ryan passed the first round, on the day of the live audition he was not in his best form.

”I was unlucky enough to be having a bad playing day,” said Ryan. “I know it didn't go well because after I finished, the chairman's few and gingerly spoken words to me were that there would be other west coast auditions in case I wanted to try again. I really didn't expect to get in, but I was placed number one on the reserve list.”

Being the first runner up almost secured Ryan a position, after someone dropped out he was given the opportunity to re-enter the competition. Now he is guaranteed the right to compete in rounds one and two at SIMPA. If he scores high enough he can then advance to rounds three and four, which increase in length and difficulty and possibly place into round five, which consists of playing a Mozart concerto with the Sydney Orchestra.

Ryan's performances will be broadcasted live over the Internet at www.abc.net.au/classic/sipca .

He hopes that the community here in Humboldt will tune in and support his artistic achievements.