Leeds International Piano Competition

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Leeds International Piano Competition
NEW LIPC Logo.jpg
Awarded forExceptional piano performance
Location Great Hall of the University of Leeds
Leeds Town Hall
(St George's Hall, Bradford in 2024)
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented byLeeds International Piano Competition
Formerly calledLeeds International Pianoforte Competition
First award1963;62 years ago (1963)
Final award2024
Website www.leedspiano.com

The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, [1] [2] is an international piano competition which takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1961 by Marion, Countess of Harewood, Dame Fanny Waterman and Roslyn Lyons, with the first competition being held in 1963. Waterman was the chair and artistic director up to the 2015 competition when Paul Lewis and Adam Gatehouse became Co-Artistic Directors.

Contents

The first round of the competition takes place internationally and in 2021 went 'virtual' when 63 pianists were recorded in 17 international locations and the Jury deliberated online, in order to circumvent the various impacts of Covid. The 21st Edition in 2024 held the First Round in six international locations, after receiving a record 366 applications. The Second Round and Semi-finals take place in the Great Hall of the University of Leeds. The Concerto Finals of the 2024 Competition exceptionally took place at St George's Hall, Bradford while Leeds Town Hall underwent major refurbishment. [3]

Since 2018, the Competition has reach a global audience through its broadcasting, achieving over 10.2 million views in 2024 through multiple channels and platforms, including BBC Four, BBC Radio 3, medici.tv, Amadeus.tv (China), Classic FM and Mezzo.tv.

History

2009 competition finals 2009 Finals Leeds International Pianoforte Competition.jpg
2009 competition finals

The competition was first held in September 1963 when the young British pianist, Michael Roll, became the First Prizewinner. It joined the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) in 1965. [2] After the 1996 competition, there was a four-year break before the 2000 competition, to align with the turn of the millennium. Competitors were formerly housed at Tetley Hall, a residence hall at the University of Leeds, which closed in 2006 and are still housed in University residences throughout the competition. The University of Leeds is the Principal Partner of the competition and has supported it since its inception. The BBC has broadcast all Competitions since 1966 on television and radio. In 2018 the Competition was streamed live online for the first time with medici.tv.

The list of eminent past Competition winners includes Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia. The roll call of other Competition finalists is equally illustrious as that of the winners and includes Mitsuko Uchida and Sir Andras Schiff (1975), Peter Donohoe (1981), Louis Lortie (1984), Lars Vogt (1990), Denis Kozhukhin (2006) and Louis Schwizgebel (2012) when Federico Colli won the Gold Medal. Sofya Gulyak was the first female first prize winner, awarded in 2009. [4]

2021 winner, Alim Beisembayev receiving his Dame Fanny Waterman Gold Medal Alim Beisembayev, the 2021 winner of the Dame Fanny Waterman Gold Medal.jpg
2021 winner, Alim Beisembayev receiving his Dame Fanny Waterman Gold Medal

Dame Fanny Waterman was the competition's Chair and Artistic Director until her retirement after the 2015 event and she remained Honorary Life President until her death in 2020. She was replaced as artistic director by Paul Lewis (Jury Chair for 2018) and Adam Gatehouse. Gatehouse is now the competition's sole Artistic Director and was joined by Imogen Cooper as Chair of the Jury in 2021.

2018 Competition

The 2018 competition marked a major refresh to the competition structure:

A public piano on Cookridge Street, Leeds designed by artist Rosie Vohra 210903 Soul&Co LIPC Day 1 Piano Trail23 copy.jpg
A public piano on Cookridge Street, Leeds designed by artist Rosie Vohra

The prize benefits were redesigned to support the career development of the prizewinners and include mentoring by Paul Lewis and other notable pianists, as well as artist management with Askonas Holt, a recording deal with Warner Classics and a series of international engagements.

A festival programme of masterclasses, talks, educational events and other activities also took place during the competition, including an appearance by Alfred Brendel, free piano lessons in the world's Smallest Concert Hall (a converted shipping container) and the creation of The Leeds Piano Trail across Leeds city centre (pianos for the public to use), supported by The Leeds BID. [6] [5]

Orchestra

Alim Beisembayev with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Manze at Leeds Town Hall 210917 Competition Final Day 122 copy.jpg
Alim Beisembayev with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Manze at Leeds Town Hall

The concerto finals have been supported by a number of major UK orchestras over the years including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé. Sir Mark Elder has conducted the Hallé Orchestra at all the finals since 2003, with the exception of 2018 when the conductor was Edward Gardner. Other conductors with long associations with the Competition have included Sir Charles Groves and Sir Simon Rattle. The Terence Judd Hallé Orchestra Prize, selected and awarded by the orchestra to one of the six finalists, was awarded in 2012-2018. A new partnership with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was announced in 2019 for the 20th Edition in 2021, and the orchestra awards the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society Prize for the best performance of a contemporary work. Following this award in 2021 to Gold Medallist Alim Beisembayev, the RLPO commissioned a piano concerto from the distinguished composer, Eleanor Alberga.

Prize winners

Year1st place2nd place3rd place4th place5th place6th place
2024 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jaeden Izik-Dzurko Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Junyan Chen [a] Flag of Vietnam.svg Khanh Nhi Luong Flag of the Republic of China.svg Kai-Min Chang Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Julian Trevelyan
2021 Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Alim Beisembayev [b] Flag of Japan.svg Kaito Kobayashi [a] Flag of Israel.svg Ariel Lanyi Flag of Ukraine.svg Dmytro Choni Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Thomas Kelly
2018 Flag of the United States.svg Eric Lu [c] Flag of Germany.svg Mario Häring [a] Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Xinyuan Wang [b] — (Finalists: Flag of Croatia.svg Aljoša Jurinić, Flag of Russia.svg Anna Geniushene)
2015 Flag of Russia.svg Anna Tsybuleva Flag of South Korea.svg Heejae Kim [c] Flag of Ukraine.svg Vitaly Pisarenko Flag of the United States.svg Drew Petersen Flag of Japan.svg Tomoki Kitamura Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Yun Wei
2012 Flag of Italy.svg Federico Colli Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Louis Schwizgebel Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Jiayan Sun Flag of Latvia.svg Andrejs Osokins Flag of the United States.svg Andrew Tyson [c] Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jayson Gillham
2009 Flag of Russia.svg Sofya Gulyak Flag of Ukraine.svg Alexej Gorlatch Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Taverna Flag of France.svg David Kadouch Flag of Hong Kong.svg Rachel Cheung Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Jianing Kong
2006 Flag of South Korea.svg Sunwook Kim Flag of the United States.svg Andrew Brownell Flag of Russia.svg Denis Kozhukhin Flag of Hong Kong.svg Alice Wong Flag of South Korea.svg Sung-hoon Kim Flag of the United States.svg Grace Fong
2003 Flag of Finland.svg Antti Siirala Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Evgenia Rubinova Flag of Japan.svg Yuma Osaki Flag of Ukraine.svg Igor Tchetuev Flag of the Republic of China.svg Chiao-Ying Chang Flag of the United Kingdom.svg / Flag of Nigeria.svg Sodi Braide
2000 Flag of Italy.svg Alessio Bax Flag of Italy.svg Davide Franceschetti Flag of Germany.svg Severin von Eckardstein Flag of Italy.svg Cristiano Burato Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ashley Wass Flag of Russia.svg Tatiana Kolesova
1996 Flag of Russia.svg Ilya Itin Flag of Italy.svg Roberto Cominati Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (1992-2006).svg Aleksandar Madžar Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Sa Chen Flag of Armenia.svg Armen Babakhanian Flag of Israel.svg Ekaterina Apekisheva
1993 Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Castro Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Leon McCawley Flag of the United States.svg Mark Anderson Flag of Italy.svg Filippo Gamba Flag of Russia.svg Maxim Philippov Flag of Russia.svg Margarita Shevchenko
1990 Flag of Portugal (official).svg Artur Pizarro Flag of Germany.svg Lars Vogt Flag of France.svg Éric Le Sage Flag of Hungary.svg Balázs Szokolay Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg Haesun Paik Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Andrei Zheltonog
1987 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Vladimir Ovchinnikov Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Munro Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Noriko Ogawa Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Boris Berezovsky Flag of Ireland.svg Hugh Tinney Flag of the United States.svg Marcantonio Barone
1984 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jon Kimura Parker Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg Ju Hee Suh Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Junko Otake Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Louis Lortie Flag of the United States.svg David Buechner Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg Emma Tahmizian
1981 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ian Hobson Flag of Germany.svg Wolfgang Manz Flag of France.svg Bernard d'Ascoli Flag of the United States.svg Daniel Blumenthal Flag of the United States.svg Christopher O'Riley Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Peter Donohoe
1978 Flag of France.svg Michel Dalberto Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Diana Kacso Flag of the United States.svg Lydia Artymiw Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ian Hobson Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Kathryn Stott Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Etsuko Terada
1975 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Dmitri Alexeev Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Mitsuko Uchida Joint 3rd prize: [1]
Flag of Hungary.svg András Schiff
Flag of France.svg Pascal Devoyon
Joint 4th prize: [1]
Flag of New Zealand.svg Michael Houstoun
Flag of the United States.svg Myung-whun Chung
1972 Flag of the United States.svg Murray Perahia Flag of the United States.svg Craig Sheppard Flag of the United States.svg Eugen Indjic
1969 Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg Radu Lupu Flag of France.svg Georges Pludermacher Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg Arthur Moreira Lima Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Boris Petrushansky Flag of France.svg Anne Queffélec
1966 Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg Rafael Orozco Joint 2nd prize:
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Viktoria Postnikova
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Semyon Kruchin
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Alexey Nasedkin [1] Flag of France.svg Jean-Rodolphe Kars
1963 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Michael Roll Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Vladimir Krainev Flag of France.svg Sebastien Risler Flag of the United States.svg Armenta Adams

Author Jilly Cooper visited the competition during research for her novel Appassionata ; it features a similar event, also in Yorkshire, called the Appleton Piano Competition. [10]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Winner of the Yaltah Menuhin Award. [7]
  2. 1 2 Winner of the medici.tv Audience Award. [7]
  3. 1 2 3 Winner of the Terence Judd–Hallé Orchestra Prize. [8] [9] [7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Previous Winners". Leeds International Pianoforte Competition 2006. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Leeds International Piano Competition". World Federation of International Music Competitions. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  3. "Bradford to host next Leeds International Piano Competition Finals". Leeds International Piano Competition. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  4. Andrew Clements (14 September 2016), "Leeds International Piano competition final – first prize for Anna Tcybuleva, not the obvious choice", The Guardian , retrieved 3 January 2017
  5. 1 2 Paul Lewis (18 October 2016), "Paul Lewis: how we're transforming 'the Leeds' to nurture tomorrow's pianists", The Guardian , retrieved 2 January 2017
  6. 'New Vision' announced for 2018 Competition, Leeds International Piano Competition, 18 October 2016, archived from the original on 3 January 2017, retrieved 2 January 2017
  7. 1 2 3 "And the Winner Is… | Leeds International Piano Comp". www.leedspiano.com. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  8. James McCarthy (18 September 2012), "Leeds International Piano Competition 2012 Winner Announced", Gramophone , retrieved 3 January 2017
  9. Heejae Kim piano, Leeds International Piano Competition, 5 April 2016, archived from the original on 3 January 2017, retrieved 3 January 2017
  10. Morley, Christopher (11 April 1996). "A wild tale of sex and drugs and bacarolles". Birmingham Daily Post. p. 14.