The winner of the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition, one of the UK’s most prestigious international music prizes has been announced in Hastings, UK.
First prize winner was Fumiya Koida from Japan who gave a stunning performance of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and won a cash prize of £15,000 plus future concerto performance engagements with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and additional performance opportunities in both the UK and the USA.
Second Prize Winner was awarded to Maxim Kinasov from Russia, who gave an impressive performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor Op.23 and received a cash prize of £7,000. Kinasov also received the special ‘Orchestra Prize’ voted for by players of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and in addition will receive future performance engagements.
Now revered as one of the UK’s premier classical competitions, the competition took place in the creative hub of Hastings, culminating in a live 2 day sell-out final at The White Rock Theatre with 6 finalists all playing a full concerto with the RPO, one of The world’s most revered orches-tras.
The competition becomes a biennial event from 2019 and continues its relationship with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the world’s leading orchestras,
The 2019 competition enjoyed national and international reach with over 176 entries from 26 countries, with live auditions having taken place in Japan, China, USA, Italy and in the UK. 49 contestants were invited to compete during the competition stages in Hastings, with winning performers being selected to compete in the semi-final and the live finals.
