Leeds International Piano Competition

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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.

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

File: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]

File: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:

  • The preliminary round of the competition took place internationally for the first time in Berlin, New York and Singapore.
  • The semi-finalists offered two different recitals (one was chosen by the jury) and included the introduction of chamber music in a new collaborative musicianship feature, working with Bjørg Lewis (cello), Jack Liebeck (violin) and the Elias String Quartet.
  • The concerto finale included five finalists in concert with the Hallé orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner. Finalists offered two concertos, one "classically oriented"[5] and one from the Romantic period or later, and one was selected for performance by the jury.
  • Three main prizes were awarded, as well as the Terence Judd Hallé Orchestra Prize and a new medici.tv audience prize, which was voted for online.
  • A festival programme in Leeds was introduced to bring The Leeds out of the concert hall and into the community.
  • Medici.tv livestreamed all rounds which remain free to view on the competition microsite.
File: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

File: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

Year 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place 5th place 6th place
2024 Template:Flagicon Jaeden Izik-Dzurko Template:Flagicon Junyan ChenTemplate:Efn Template:Flagicon Khanh Nhi Luong Template:Flagicon Kai-Min Chang Template:Flagicon Julian Trevelyan —
2021 Template:Flagicon Alim BeisembayevTemplate:Efn Template:Flagicon Kaito KobayashiTemplate:Efn Template:Flagicon Ariel Lanyi Template:Flagicon Dmytro Choni Template:Flagicon Thomas Kelly —
2018 Template:Flagicon Eric LuTemplate:Efn Template:Flagicon Mario HäringTemplate:Efn Template:Flagicon Xinyuan WangTemplate:Efn — (Finalists: Template:Flagicon Aljoša Jurinić, Template:Flagicon Anna Geniushene)
2015 Template:Flagicon Anna Tsybuleva Template:Flagicon Heejae KimTemplate:Efn Template:Flagicon Vitaly Pisarenko Template:Flagicon Drew Petersen Template:Flagicon Tomoki Kitamura Template:Flagicon Yun Wei
2012 Template:Flagicon Federico Colli Template:Flagicon Louis Schwizgebel Template:Flagicon Jiayan Sun Template:Flagicon Andrejs Osokins Template:Flagicon Andrew TysonTemplate:Efn Template:Flagicon Jayson Gillham
2009 Template:Flagicon Sofya Gulyak Template:Flagicon Alexej Gorlatch Template:Flagicon Alessandro Taverna Template:Flagicon David Kadouch Template:Flagicon Rachel Cheung Template:Flagicon Jianing Kong
2006 Template:Flagicon Sunwook Kim Template:Flagicon Andrew Brownell Template:Flagicon Denis Kozhukhin Template:Flagicon Alice Wong Template:Flagicon Sung-hoon Kim Template:Flagicon Grace Fong
2003 Template:Flagicon Antti Siirala Template:Flagicon Evgenia Rubinova Template:Flagicon Yuma Osaki Template:Flagicon Igor Tchetuev Template:Flagicon Chiao-Ying Chang Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon Sodi Braide
2000 Template:Flagicon Alessio Bax Template:Flagicon Davide Franceschetti Template:Flagicon Severin von Eckardstein Template:Flagicon Cristiano Burato Template:Flagicon Ashley Wass Template:Flagicon Tatiana Kolesova
1996 Template:Flagicon Ilya Itin Template:Flagicon Roberto Cominati Template:Flagicon Aleksandar Madžar Template:Flagicon Sa Chen Template:Flagicon Armen Babakhanian Template:Flagicon Ekaterina Apekisheva
1993 Template:Flagicon Ricardo Castro Template:Flagicon Leon McCawley Template:Flagicon Mark Anderson Template:Flagicon Filippo Gamba Template:Flagicon Maxim Philippov Template:Flagicon Margarita Shevchenko
1990 Template:Flagicon Artur Pizarro Template:Flagicon Lars Vogt Template:Flagicon Éric Le Sage Template:Flagicon Balázs Szokolay Template:Flagicon Haesun Paik Template:Flagicon Andrei Zheltonog
1987 Template:Flagicon Vladimir Ovchinnikov Template:Flagicon Ian Munro Template:Flagicon Noriko Ogawa Template:Flagicon Boris Berezovsky Template:Flagicon Hugh Tinney Template:Flagicon Marcantonio Barone
1984 Template:Flagicon Jon Kimura Parker Template:Flagicon Ju Hee Suh Template:Flagicon Junko Otake Template:Flagicon Louis Lortie Template:Flagicon David Buechner Template:Flagicon Emma Tahmizian
1981 Template:Flagicon Ian Hobson Template:Flagicon Wolfgang Manz Template:Flagicon Bernard d'Ascoli Template:Flagicon Daniel Blumenthal Template:Flagicon Christopher O'Riley Template:Flagicon Peter Donohoe
1978 Template:Flagicon Michel Dalberto Template:Flagicon Diana Kacso Template:Flagicon Lydia Artymiw Template:Flagicon Ian Hobson Template:Flagicon Kathryn Stott Template:Flagicon Etsuko Terada
1975 Template:Flagicon Dmitri Alexeev Template:Flagicon Mitsuko Uchida Joint 3rd prize:[1]
Template:Flagicon András Schiff
Template:Flagicon Pascal Devoyon 		Joint 4th prize:[1]
Template:Flagicon Michael Houstoun
Template:Flagicon Myung-whun Chung 		—
1972 Template:Flagicon Murray Perahia Template:Flagicon Craig Sheppard Template:Flagicon Eugen Indjic —
1969 Template:Flagicon Radu Lupu Template:Flagicon Georges Pludermacher Template:Flagicon Arthur Moreira Lima Template:Flagicon Boris Petrushansky Template:Flagicon Anne Queffélec —
1966 Template:Flagicon Rafael Orozco Joint 2nd prize:
Template:Flagicon Viktoria Postnikova
Template:Flagicon Semyon Kruchin 		Template:Flagicon Alexey Nasedkin[1] Template:Flagicon Jean-Rodolphe Kars —
1963 Template:Flagicon Michael Roll Template:Flagicon Vladimir Krainev Template:Flagicon Sebastien Risler Template:Flagicon Armenta Adams —

Popular culture

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.[7]

See also

Notes

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References

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External links

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