Senior Solo Competition

Open to pianists born on or after 1 September 1993

Results

1st – Tomos Boyles – £3,000 donated by Roberts of Portinorwic

2nd – Ellis Thomas – £1,000 donated by Japes and Gina Whithinshaw

Finalists – Luke Jones & Connor Heraghty  – £350 each donated by Elizabeth Lyon and the late Dr Stewart Lyon

Best performance of a piece by Beethoven: Connor Heraghty – £300 donated by Gareth Roberts

Best performance of piece composed after 1950: Tina Pik-Ying Cheung – £300 donated by Geoff and Marian Leeming

Adjudicators: Geraint Lewis, Roy Howat & Robert Markham

Application Stage

Closing date for new applications is 6pm on 17 January 2021.

Requirements:
Applicants must submit an unedited recording of solo piano repertoire not exceeding 8 minutes.
A maximum of 20 pianists will be selected for the Preliminary Stage.

Preliminary Stage

17 October 2021 – Studio 1, Galeri

9:00 – 13:00 & 14:00 – 16:15

Requirements: A programme of solo piano music not exceeding 15 minutes, to include:

  • A movement or a selection of movements from a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven
  • A study by Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, Ligeti, Kapustin, or Dusapin.

Four pianists will be admitted to the Final Stage.

No entry fee, come down to watch.

Final Stage

18 October 2021 – Theatre, Galeri

11:15 – 13:15 

14:15 : Prize Presentations

Requirements: A programme of solo piano music not exceeding 25 minutes, including a work composed after 1950. No work performed in the Preliminary Stage may be repeated.

Tickets to Watch Final

Rules

  • All competitions are open to pianists of any nationality.
  • Pianists can only compete in either the Junior or Senior Solo Category. However solo competitors can also compete in the accompanist category but need to pay the relevant application fees for both categories.
  • The decisions of the jury are final and binding and cannot be challenged. The competition organisers reserve the right not to award prizes or to reduce the number of competitors to appear in the final stage if the standard is not sufficiently high in the opinion of a majority of the members of the jury.
  • Before the Festival commences, competitors names will be drawn by an independent panel to decide on the order of performance. This order will then be followed at every stage.

  • Recording for Solo competitions should be a recent unedited film or audio recording, and must be submitted electronically by providing a link for us to download or view the recording on an online file sharing service e.g. WeTransfer, Dropbox, YouTube, etc. (Where relevant please ensure that the correct file sharing permissions have been granted to enable us to view/download the file).

  • The recording should be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from the competitor’s current or most recent teacher. There is no need to submit a recording for the piano accompaniment category however a letter of recommendation must be submitted with the application.

  • Entries will be accepted from the 1 October 2019.  The deadline for receiving entries and recordings is 6:00pm on 17 January 2021.
  • Entry fees: Junior Piano Solo Competition: £30; Senior Piano Solo Competition and the Competition for Accompanists: £40. This includes entry to all festival events and concerts apart from John Lill’s recital.
  • 75% of the registration fee will be refunded to competitors not admitted to the Preliminary stage of the Junior and Senior Piano Solo Competition.
  • Competitors selected to progress to the Preliminary stage of the competitions will be informed no later than the 15 July 2021.
  • If a competitor pulls out of the competition for any reason, registration fees will not be refunded.

Prizes

  • First Prize: £3000
  • Second Prize: £1000
  • Two other finalists: £350 each
  • Special Prize for the best performance of a work by Ludwig van Beethoven: £300
  • Special Prize for the best performance of a work composed after 1950: £300