The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, takes place every three years in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, 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 Adam Gatehouse (born c. 1950) is an English conductor, radio producer and editor, and classical music administrator. He was the main conductor of the Ballet Rambert and the Dutch National Ballet before working for BBC Radio 3 (1991–2013), where ...

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 2nd round, semi-finals and finals take place in the

Great Hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the gr ...

of the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

and in

Leeds Town Hall Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...

and in 2018 & 2021 were streamed to a large global audience through medici.tv, achieving over 4.7 million views and listens through multiple channels and platforms, including the BBC, Amadeus.tv (China), Classic FM and Mezzo.tv.

History

2009 Finals Leeds International Pianoforte Competition

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. 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

is the Principal Partner of the competition and has supported it since its inception. The list of eminent past Competition winners includes

Radu Lupu Radu Lupu (30 November 1945 – 17 April 2022) was a Romanian pianist. He was widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of his time. Born in Galați, Romania, Lupu began studying piano at the age of six. Two of his major piano teach ...

and

Murray Perahia Murray David Perahia () (born April 19, 1947) is an American pianist and conductor. He is widely considered one of the greatest living pianists. He was the first North American pianist to win the Leeds International Piano Competition, in 1972. Kn ...

. 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 Denis Kozhukhin (born in Nizhny Novgorod, 1986) is a Russian pianist who was awarded third prize in the 2006 Leeds International Piano Competition. He was also awarded first prize in the 2010 Belgian Queen Elisabeth Competition for piano. Record ...

(2006) and

Louis Schwizgebel Louis Schwizgebel (born 19 November 1987) is a Swiss pianist. He studied piano with Franz Josefovski and Brigitte Meyer at the Lausanne Conservatory, Pascal Devoyon at Universität der Künste Berlin, Emanuel Ax and Robert McDonald at the Juillia ...

(2012).

Sofya Gulyak Sofya Gulyak (born 29 December 1979) is a Russian classical pianist. She was the first woman to win the Leeds Piano Competition. Gulyak was born in Kazan. She studied at the Kazan State Conservatoire, Piano Academy Incontri col Maestro, and the R ...

was the first female first prize winner, awarded in 2009. 210918 Competition Winner

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

. Gatehouse is now the competition's sole Artistic Director and was joined by

Imogen Cooper Dame Imogen Cooper, (born 28 August 1949) is an English pianist. Biography Cooper was born in North London, daughter of the musicologist Martin du Pré Cooper and Mary Stewart, artist. She grew up surrounded by music through her parents and ...

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 Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. * The semi-finalists offered two different recitals (one was chosen by the jury) and included the introduction of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small nu ...

in a new collaborative musicianship feature, working with Bjørg Lewis (cello),

Jack Liebeck Jack Liebeck (born 4 August 1980) is a British–German violinist. In 2010, he won a Classical Brit in the young British classical performer category. He was soloist on the score for the 2011 film ''Jane Eyre'', directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga an ...

(violin) and th
Elias String Quartet
* The

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typ ...

finale included five finalists in concert with the Hallé orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner. Finalists offered two concertos, one "classically oriented" and one from the

Romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

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 competitio
microsite
210903 Soul&Co LIPC Day 1 Piano Trail23 copy

210903 Soul&Co LIPC Day 1 Piano Trail23 copy

] 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 wit
Askonas Holt
a recording deal with

Warner Classics Warner Classics is the classical music arm of Warner Music Group. The label began issuing new recordings under the Warner Classics banner in 1991. The company also includes the Erato Records, Teldec Records and NVC Arts labels. Based in France, ...

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.

Orchestra

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 Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the ba ...

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 Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE (10 March 191520 June 1992) was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors. After accompanying positions and conducting v ...

and Sir Simon Rattle. 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 Terrence Judd Hallé Orchestra Prize, selected and awarded by the orchestra to one of the six finalists, was introduced in 2012. A new partnership with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was announced in 2019 for the 20th Edition in 2021. Hallé Orchestra with

(2003–2018) City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle (1987–2000)

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Med ...

with Sir Vernon Handley (1984) Royal Liverpool Philharmonic with

Sir John Pritchard Sir John Michael Pritchard, (born Stanley Frederick Pritchard, 5 February 1918 – 5 December 1989) was an English conductor. He was known for his interpretations of Mozart operas and for his support of contemporary music. Life and career Pritch ...

and

(1963–1975) &

Andrew Manze Andrew Manze (born 14 January 1965) is a British conductor and violinist living in Germany. Born in Beckenham, United Kingdom, Manze read Classics at Cambridge University. Manze studied violin and worked with Ton Koopman (his director in t ...

(2021)

Prize winners

^* Winner of the Terence Judd–Hallé Orchestra Prize. ** Winner of the Yaltah Menuhin Award. *** Winner of the medici.tv Audience Award.

References

External links