The judges for the Southern Highlands International Piano Competition had locked themselves into the office to deliberate on who would be chosen as this year’s semi finalists.

And everyone else just had to wait.

The pianists had travelled from across the globe in the hopes of securing the $20,000 first prize, which includes a host of prestigious performance opportunities.

Not surprisingly, they were more than just a little nervous.

“I got strong feedback from the judges after my heat but that was early in the competition so I’m not really sure if I’ll make the cut,” Camden competitor Lachlan Glen said.

“And as the number of pianists has changed since the competition began, we’re not even sure how many semi finalists will be chosen.”

But finally, artistic director Grant Foster emerged to end the torture and make the final announcement.

He explained that while no one was looking forward to this part, as they had had a stimulating two and a half days, a decision had to be made.

The judges were looking for technical excellence, stylistic awareness, poetry, tonal colours, and that little bit of something special.

And the 12 semi finalists are, in performance order: Grzegorz Niemczuk of Poland, Cho Kang-Eun of South Korea, Dmitri Levkovich of Canada, Lachlan Glen of Australia, Kay Zavislak of USA, Milos Mihajlovic of Serbia, Tristan Lee of Australia, Aleyson Scopel of Brazil, Vladimir Milosevic of Serbia, Oliver She of Australia, Felix Lawi of Indonesia, and Roger Cui of Australia.

When the announcement was made excitement and pride were shining on Lachlan’s mother’s face as she sat beside him in the auditorium.

Her son however, while relieved, realised he now just had something else to be nervous about - another performance.

The semi finals were held yesterday and today, with the finals to take place at Clubbe Hall on Saturday.

For concert tickets or more information, go to www.shipc.org.au.