Pianists battle it out in Elgin competition
More than 40 musicians from around the world take part in annual event
Published:
AMATEUR and professional musicians performed a range of classical numbers for the ninth annual Moray Piano Competition in Elgin Town Hall over the weekend.
The event attracted more than 40 participants from around the world, including seven local competitors, all playing for a piece of the £4,000 prize pot.
The countries represented were Scotland, England, Wales, Bulgaria, Poland, Hong Kong, Thailand and Lithuania.
The competition was split into three sections: Spynie class for 12 years and under, the Cathedral class for 16 years and under, and the Speyside class for 20 years and under.
The winner of the Spynie class was Lin Stewart, 12, of Lossiemouth, who also picked up the Betty Wyness Rose Bowl Prize for most outstanding local competitor, while Ye Ye Xu, 13, from Edinburgh, was first in the Cathedral class.
Winner of the Speyside class was Yasmin Rowe, from Chichester, who also won the Laich of Moray quaich for the outstanding performance of the competition.
The qualifying stages were held on Saturday, with the finals yesterday.
Participants had to play from a wide repertoire of classical music including Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and Schumann.
The organisers said that this was the largest group that has taken part and the judges added that the standard for all the entrants was very high.
The competition is run by the Moray Piano Festival Trust and funded by patrons and corporate sponsors.
Judging this year was by pianists William Fong and Paul Roberts.
