Leeds International Piano Competition

Leeds International Piano Competition

Leeds Town Hall in 2006
Awarded for Exceptional piano performance
Location Great Hall of the University of Leeds
Leeds Town Hall
Country  United Kingdom
Presented by Leeds International Piano Competition
First awarded 1963
Official website http://www.leedspiano.com/

The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition,[1] takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1961 by Marion, Countess of Harewood, Fanny Waterman, and Roslyn Lyons. Waterman is today its chairman and artistic director.

The competition was first held in September 1963. It takes place in the Great Hall of the University of Leeds and in Leeds Town Hall. The competition was a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC), joining the organization in 1965 and resigned from the WFIMC by the end of 2011.[1]

History

There have been 17 instalments of the competition to date. After the 1996 competition, there was a four-year break before the 2000 competition. This was in order to coincide the next edition with the turn of the millennium.

The 16th competition took place from 26 August to 13 September 2009 and was won by Sofya Gulyak, the competition’s first ever female first prize-winner. It was also the first time that the competition had not housed competitors at Tetley Hall, a residence hall at the University of Leeds which closed in 2006. For many years, the supervisor of Tetley Hall during the competition was Elizabeth Arnold.

The competitors are accompanied by the Halle Orchestra, under the leadership of Mark Elder, since 2003. Previous partnerships include the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle (1987–2000), the BBC Philharmonic with Vernon Handley in 1984 and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic with Charles Groves (1963–1975).

The 17th competition took place from 29 August to 16 September 2012 and saw the introduction of an Orchestra Prize for one of the six finalists. 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the competition; the 18th and next edition will be held in 2015.

Prize winners

Year 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
2012 Italy Federico Colli Switzerland Louis Schwizgebel China Jiayan Sun Latvia Andrejs Osokins United States Andrew Tyson Australia Jayson Gillham
2009 Russia Sofya Gulyak Ukraine Alexej Gorlatch Italy Alessandro Taverna France David Kadouch China Rachel Cheung China Jianing Kong
2006 South Korea Sunwook Kim United States Andrew Brownell Russia Denis Kozhukhin China Song Siheng South Korea Sung-hoon Kim United States Grace Fong
2003 Finland Antti Siirala Uzbekistan Evgenia Rubinova Japan Yuma Osaki Ukraine Igor Tchetuev Taiwan Chiao Ying-Chang United Kingdom/Nigeria Sodi Braide
2000 Italy Alessio Bax Italy Davide Franceschetti Germany Severin von Eckardstein Italy Cristiano Burato United Kingdom Ashley Wass Russia Tatiana Kolesova
1996 Russia Ilya Itin Italy Roberto Cominati Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Aleksandar Madžar China Sa Chen Armenia Armen Babakhanian Israel Ekaterina Apekisheva
1993 Brazil Ricardo Castro United Kingdom Leon McCawley United States Mark Anderson Italy Filippo Gamba Russia Maxim Philippov Russia Margarita Shevchenko
1990 Portugal Artur Pizarro Germany Lars Vogt France Éric Le Sage Hungary Balázs Szokolay South Korea Haesun Paik Soviet Union Andrei Zheltonog
1987 Soviet Union Vladimir Ovchinnikov Australia Ian Munro Japan Noriko Ogawa Soviet Union Boris Berezovsky Republic of Ireland Hugh Tinney United States Marcantonio Barone
1984 Canada Jon Kimura Parker Korea Ju Hee Suh Japan Junko Otake Canada Louis Lortie United States David Buechner Bulgaria Emma Tahmizian
1981 United Kingdom Ian Hobson Germany Wolfgang Manz France Bernard d'Ascoli United States Daniel Blumenthal United States Christopher O'Riley United Kingdom Peter Donohoe
1978 France Michel Dalberto Brazil Diana Kacso United States Lydia Artymiw United Kingdom Ian Hobson United Kingdom Kathryn Stott Japan Etsuko Terada
1975 Soviet Union Dimitri Alexeev Japan Mitsuko Uchida Joint 3rd prize:
Hungary András Schiff
France Pascal Devoyon
Joint 5th prize:
New Zealand Michael Houstoun
United States Myung-whun Chung
1972 United States Murray Perahia United States Craig Sheppard United States Eugen Indjic N/A
1969 Romania Radu Lupu France Georges Pludermacher Brazil Arthur Moreira Lima Soviet Union Boris Petrushansky France Anne Queffélec N/A
1966 Spain Rafael Orozco Joint 2nd prize:
Soviet Union Viktoria Postnikova
Soviet Union Semyon Kruchin
Soviet Union Alexey Nasedkin France Jean-Rodolphe Kars N/A
1963 United Kingdom Michael Roll Soviet Union Vladimir Krainev France Sebastien Risler United States Armenta Adams N/A

See also

References

External links