The Concerto Finals of the third RNCM James Mottram International Piano Competition took place on Friday and Saturday, concluding what proved to be an exceptional and highly competitive week.
In the Senior Category (19-25), nothing separated Victoria Vassilenko and Hin Yat Tsang, who were both awarded Joint Second Prize of £5000 in a closely fought contest presented by Classic FM’s Jamie Crick. Victoria, who is studying at Madrid’s Queen Sofia College of Music, chose to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor Op 37, and Hin Yat, a student at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, opted for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor K466. Lee Dionne, who studies at Yale University, secured the £2500 Third Prize with a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 in in E flat major Op 73.
In the under 19s Junior Category, which featured three Chinese pianists, First Prize of £4000 and a performance opportunity with the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra went to YeLei Hao, who also performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5; Second Prize of £2000 was awarded to Hao Zi Yoh, who performed Choin’s Piano Concerto No 1 in E minor Op 11; and the £1000 Third Prize went to ZiHui Song for his performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in B flat major K595.
The finalists in both categories were accompanied by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Hannu Lintu, and once again the competition had the support of media partner Classic FM, which recorded the Senior Concerto Final ready for broadcast on Monday 10 December at 8pm in the Full Works Concert with Jane Jones.
