White Rock Theatre, Hastings 4th & 5th March 2016
In recent years this competition has grown to become an important fixture in the country’s musical calendar. Under the inspirational guidance of artistic director, Frank Wibaut, the event is known throughout the world and has been made more attractive and accessible to young musicians.
This year live auditions were held in Japan, USA, Hamburg and London. Video entries were also considered. Competitors this year were required to perform part of either a Beethoven or Mozart concerto in addition to their other chosen repertoire. Also, for the first time each participant had to perform a specially commissioned work – The Hastings Toccata by Paul Patterson.
This year for the first time the finals were spread over two evenings, leaving this reviewer in the unfortunate position of only hearing half of the finalists and not hearing the overall winner of the competition.
The six finalists were Michelle Nam (Canada), Samuel Deason (Canada), Tzu-Yin Huang (Taiwan), Ke Ma (China), Eric Zuber (USA) and Jung Eun Severine Kim.
Despite a wide choice five out of the six finalists chose to perform a Prokofiev concerto (No. 2 or 3), with the other choice being Tchaikovsky No. 1.
By all accounts Friday evening yielded an excellent experience for the audience, with high standards of performance all round and including the overall winner.
Saturday’s event was also very enjoyable. The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra were on great form under the genial leadership of Brian Wright, himself an active supporter of the competition. The orchestra put us all in the mood with a spirited rendition of Mozart’s Overture: The Marriage of Figaro. We then heard in turn Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.2, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 and Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3. These were tremendous performances. Each young pianist really gave of their all, demonstrating mental and physical stamina, understanding and feeling for the music and an ability to interact – both leading and responding to the orchestra. Only one of the evening’s performances briefly faltered in this respect.
After much deliberation presentations were made to all the semi-finalists. Tzu-Yin Huang was declared the overall winner with Samuel Deason in 2nd place. A special prize for a British semi-finalist was awarded to Andreas Ioannides.
The competition is, of course, much more than just the finals and it is to be hoped that next year the whole event continues to be well supported by audiences and sponsors. This must be the jewel in the crown of the musical calendar for Hastings. It now deserves much wider recognition nationally. Perhaps we will soon see some good television / radio coverage alongside that of the Leeds festival.
Stephen Page