French pianist Clément Lefebvre Wins 2016 JMIPC

French pianist Clément Lefebvre has won the 2016 James Mottram International Piano Competition (JMIPC), held at the RNCM between 28 November and 3 December.

Clément (pictured), who studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse, performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor Op 37 to secure the £10,000 First Prize and Audience Prize.

The £5000 Second Prize was awarded to Romanian Florian Mitrea, who performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 21 in C major K 467, while Latvian pianist Daumants Liepiņš secured the £2500 Third Prize with a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concert No 20 in D minor K 466.

All finalists were accompanied by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vasily Petrenko, and the competition again had the support of media partner Classic FM, which is set to broadcast the final on 13 December, and Yamaha.

Graham Scott, JMIPC Artistic Director and Head of Keyboard Studies at the RNCM, added: ‘This year’s JMIPC drew more than 75 applications from around the world of which 30 were selected for the live rounds in Manchester. After a preliminary round and a semi-final three supremely gifted pianists were selected for the concerto final with the RLPO. The jury was unanimous in awarding the First Prize to Clément Lefebvre for his monumental performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concert No 3.’

The James Mottram International Piano Competition is a major biennial event that offers an all-round learning experience for young pianists from all over the world, mixing opportunities to perform on the concert platform with a series of masterclasses given by a distinguished international jury. It is thanks to a generous bequest from the late James Mottram that the RNCM is able to present the competition.

5 December 2016