Prestigious competition even better

Last year's winner Tae-Hyung Kim from South Korea playing at 2013's concerto competition SUS-140220-133217001

Next year’s competition will for the first time culminate in a two day final, with six finalists competing for the coveted first prize rather than three. The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra will now perform for two consecutive nights at the White Rock Theatre in Hastings.

“This is a very exciting development for the competition and allows us to showcase an even greater number of young talents from around the world,” said Frank Wibaut, Artistic Director of the Competition and Chairman of the International Jury.

Up to 48 contestants will be invited to come to Hastings to play excerpts from their chosen concerto in front of an international jury, 24 will go forward to Stage 2, when they will play a movement of both a Beethoven and a Mozart concerto. 12 will then play a programme of their own choice in the semi-final, with six being chosen for the new two-day final. There will also be changes to the way contestants are selected to come to Hastings.

“In addition to contestants applying via video recording as they have done before, for next year we will be running live auditions in four centres in UK, Germany, Japan and North America,” says Professor Wibaut. “This will significantly improve awareness of the competition.” the competition is at the White Rock from Feb 25 -March 5.