Preliminary Round (Video Recording) Jury

Prolific recitalist and recording artist, Benjamin Frith is one of the most versatile, respected and engaging pianists in the UK. With over 60 recordings – from Scarlatti to MacMillan – and many acclaimed reviews, Frith is at the forefront of the craft of music making.

Gold Medal winner of the Artur Rubinstein Piano Masters International Competition in Tel Aviv and Top Prize Winner in the Busoni International Piano Competition, Frith has performed with many of the worlds finest orchestras and conductors. Zubin Mehta with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Mosche Atzmon with the Warsaw Philharmonic amongst some of Frith’s memorable musical experiences.

Renowned for his critically acclaimed recordings, Frith made Gramophone ‘Disc of the Year’ with his C.V. Stanford Second Piano Concerto and his Schumann Davidsbundler Op 6 won the Radio 3 ‘CD Review’. In high demand as both soloist and chamber musician, Frith enjoys a busy and versatile career. As pianist in the Gould Piano Trio he has toured extensively and Frith has performed and recorded as part of the illustrious Nash Ensemble. Solo tours have taken him to America, Europe, the middle and far East with upcoming solo tours to Japan.

Benjamin Frith lives in Yorkshire with his wife and piano duo partner, Heidi Rolfe.

Graham is Head of the School of Keyboard Studies. Hailed by the Gramophone magazine as ‘an exceptional talent’ he has performed extensively throughout the world most notably in New York (92nd St. Y), Washington DC (Kennedy Center), Los Angeles (Ambassador Auditorium), Tokyo (Suntory Hall), Beijing (Beijing Concert Hall and Forbidden City Concert Hall), Paris (Bagatelle) as well as all the major London venues (Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Barbican Centre.)

He has performed with leading orchestras, notably the London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Belgium National Symphony, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinlandpfalz (standing in for Martha Argerich), Cape Town Symphony, Singapore Symphony, St Louis Symphony and the New York Chamber Symphony under such conductors as Sir Charles Groves, Bernhard Klee, Marin Alsop, Paul Daniel, Barry Wordsworth and Alexander Lazarev.

Graham’s discography includes CDs of works by Scriabin, Gershwin, Macmillan and a live recital CD from Los Angeles. He has broadcast extensively on BBC Radio and National Public Radio in the USA.

Graham studied with Professor Ryszard Bakst at both Chetham’s School of Music and the RNCM.  He became the first artist to win both the YCA Inc. auditions in New York and the YCAT auditions in London. He also won the Dudley National Piano Competition and the Jaen International Piano Competition in Spain.

Since 2007 he has held the position of Head of Keyboard Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Artistic Director of the RNCM James Mottram International Piano Competition.  He has previously been a member of the jury of the Horowitz Competition in Kiev, the Gilels Competition in Odessa, the Alessandro Casagrande Competition in Terni Italy, the Rina Salo Gallo Competition in Monza Italy, the Jaen International Piano Competition in Spain and the YCAT auditions in London.

Graham has taught at many summer schools most notably Musicfest Perugia in Italy, the Colburn Festival Academy in Los Angeles, Chethams International Piano Summer School in Manchester and the Beijing International Music Festival and Academy.

Nigel Wilkinson was for many years a senior producer for BBC Radio 3, where he oversaw the radio production of the Proms for six years.  He produced many hundreds of studio recordings, collaborating with a wide range of leading performers, including many of the world’s major pianists.  He also made award-winning documentaries, including a Sony Gold Award for In Preparation, tracing the development of Hugh Wood’s Piano Concerto with Joanna MacGregor.  He ran Radio 3’s Young Artists’ Forum scheme for emerging talent, and was made an honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in recognition of his involvement with young musicians at the start of their professional career.

Before joining the BBC, he read mathematics at King’s College, Cambridge, and then music as a postgraduate at London University, where he was awarded a PhD in musical analysis.  He now works as a pianist, conductor and teacher. Nigel has also worked extensively as an external examiner at the RAM, RCM, RNCM and Guildhall, and continues to be involved in recording projects. As a pianist he has appeared extensively in chamber music, and has also performed a complete cycle of the Mozart piano concertos, directed from the piano.