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| - Organisers of Poland's Chopin competition, which has crowned pianists from around the world, said Thursday they have rescheduled this year's preliminary round owing to the spread of the coronavirus. Poland has recorded its first death from the virus, while 48 others have been infected. Educational and cultural facilities across the country will now be closed until March 25. "We're currently preparing a new September schedule for the preliminaries, which were originally supposed to take place on April 17 to 28," contest spokesman Aleksander Laskowski was quoted by Polish news agency PAP as saying. More than 160 pianists from 33 countries are to compete in the preliminary round in Warsaw, with 80 selected to perform in the subsequent round, currently scheduled for October 2-21. Winning the event opens the door to playing prestigious venues around the world. It is reserved for pianists between the ages of 16 and 30, and laureates have come from Asia, Europe, and North and South America. The juried performances are open to the public and always sell out. Born in 1810 in Zelazowa Wola, near the Polish capital, Frederic Chopin fled his homeland just before an 1830 uprising, and later lived in Vienna and Paris. bo-amj/wai/
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