SEMI-FINALS 12 – 14 SEPTEMBER
FINALS 17 – 18 SEPTEMBER
The Leeds International Piano Competition, one of the world’s leading music competitions which has launched many international careers, announces details of the ten pianists who have won a place in the semi-finals of the 20th Edition of the Competition in Leeds next week (12-14 September) after successfully competing in the second round.
The pianists going through to the Semi-Final are Alim Beisembayev (23, Kazakhstan), Dmytro Choni (28, Ukraine), Thomas Kelly (22, United Kingdom), Elizaveta Kliuchereva (22, Russia), Kaito Kobayashi (25, Japan), Ariel Lanyi (23, Israel), Yuzhang Li (22, China), Priscilla Navarro (27, Peru), Hyunjin Roh (20, South Korea) and Xiaolu Zang (21, China). The ten semi-finalists, aged between 20 and 28, hail from 9 different countries: China, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Peru, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom and Ukraine.
Adam Gatehouse, Artistic Director of The Leeds International Piano Competition, said ‘We have been blown away by the quality of the contestants taking part in the Second Round this year. As our First Round was done digitally, it has been thrilling to have the opportunity to watch these young pianists perform live in the University of Leeds Great Hall over the past few days. I want to congratulate all of the pianists who have performed and I’m looking forward to welcoming the 10 semi-finalists back to the Great Hall from Sunday for three days of Semi-Final performances.’
The Second Round, which took place between 8-10 September, was attended by representatives from 17 countries including Ukraine, China, the UK, South Korea, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Peru, Poland and Russia — the Competition’s most regionally diverse set of competitors in its 58-year history.
The Semi-Finals and Finals of The Leeds will take place at the University of Leeds and Leeds Town Hall between 12-14 Sept and 17-18 Sept respectively. All rounds have so far been streamed worldwide by medici.tv, with the Semi-Finals and Finals broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and the Finals aired live on BBC Four from 7pm BST.
The Concerto Final performances take place at Leeds Town Hall with The Leeds’ new orchestral partners, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Manze, alongside an enhanced programme of activities during the Competition in Leeds.
With a city-wide festival across the Competition’s own community piano trail, piano workshops for schools, masterclasses, discussions, industry lectures from major figures in classical music, and a special exhibition on the life and work of the late Dame Fanny Waterman, the competition aims to create a much-enriched experience for both competitors and audiences.
Watch replays of the First and Second Round performances here: https://leedspiano.medici.tv/en/replays/
https://www.leedspiano.com/