Stephen Hough to lead relaunched Leeds piano competition | Classical music
The Leeds International Piano Competition will be relaunched under the artistic direction of Sir Stephen Hough. The pianist is spearheading major reforms in the triennial competition, which first started in 1963. He will also chair an international jury consisting of fellow pianists Piotr Anderszewski, Lucas Debargue, Yeol Eum Son, Kathryn Stott and Master of the King’s Music, composer Errollyn Wallen.
In the 2027 competition, the upper age limit will be increased to 35 and contestants will have completely free choice of the music they will perform, such as Couperin or Copland, Boulez or Busoni.
“I never wanted to be on the jury and I don’t like pageants,” Hough said. “They can seem like a series of tests where you try to trap rivals. That’s not what music is about. But I thought maybe there was something we could do here in Leeds that was a bit different and find a way to give young musicians a platform to show us who they are. “Not everyone is good at everything.
“Competitions often become an extension of the final exam in music school. But we want to know what you’ll program when you’re asked to make your debut at Wigmore Hall or Carnegie Hall. Give us a program, show us the best of you so we can see the best of you, not some mediocre half of the best of everything.”
For the concerto final, finalists will present three piano concertos (again, any rather than those chosen from a predetermined list) that they would be happy to play with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and its principal conductor Domingo Hindoyan. Hinduyan, Hough and one of the jury members will choose the work they want to hear the finalist perform.
Increasing the age limit (in most competitions, contestants are limited to under 30 years of age) is another innovation. “That doesn’t mean we expect a lot of 33- and 34-year-olds to come in, but they’re certainly welcome to do so,” Hough says. “But I wanted to send a message to the young players that there is no rush on this. Don’t think you suddenly have to compete before you get too old. You have time.
“This comes from something my main piano teacher, Gordon Green, told me when I was a teenager: ‘I don’t care how you play now. What concerns me is how you’re going to play in 10 years.'”
Hough was born on the Wirral and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. “I’ve loved Leeds since I was a kid. Having the whole nation glued to the television to witness the best piano playing was both an exciting and unattainable goal,” he said. The finals of the competition were being broadcast live on BBC Two; In recent years BBC Radio 3 has broadcast the finals and semi-finals, and thanks to a partnership with Medici TV, the final rounds are broadcast live and available to watch when you catch up. Content is also available on Leeds’ YouTube channel and leedpiano.com.
Previous winners of the respected competition include Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia, while finalists include Mitsuko Uchida and Sir András Schiff, Lars Vogt and Federico Colli. Only two women have won the competition: Sofia Gulyak in 2009 and Anna Tsybuleva in 2015, both Russian-born. Even in recent years the finals at Leeds have been dominated by male players; Blind listening for Leeds’ first round was introduced in 2024 and will continue to be so in the competition in 2027.
“We have to keep those things in mind and make sure there’s no unconscious bias and that we’re not weighting towards a particular style,” says Hough. “When you put 20-year-olds on stage at Leeds, it’s too late to think in terms of balance and representation in a way. That needs to start early with parents and schools.”
As well as the main prize of £50,000, there will be contemporary Music, the most outstanding encore, a new Leeds Piano Trail award (for an engaging vision for a community-led project to be developed and delivered in 2028) and an audience award. “If the audience disagrees with the jury, that would be a positive thing for me,” Hough said. “This is a platform, not a test. I want to move away from the idea that there is only one winner. Choosing a winner is an uncertain and subjective thing. A different jury on a different day may come up with a different result.”
“Leeds put itself on the map with its search for imagination, poetry and profound musicality. And that remains,” he said. “Ultimately, we want to find someone who will change our lives during their performance.”
