Stephen Hough Relaunches Leeds Piano Competition
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- Stephen Hough takes over as artistic director of the Leeds International Piano Competition for its 2027 relaunch, chairing an international jury of Piotr Anderszewski, Lucas Debargue, Yeol Eum Son, Kathryn Stott, and composer Errollyn Wallen.
- The 2027 competition raises its upper age limit to 35 — well above the typical under-30 cutoff at most piano contests — and grants competitors complete free choice over their repertoire, from Couperin to Copland or Boulez to Busoni.
- Concerto finalists must each submit three piano concertos of their own choosing, with Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra selecting which one to perform in the final round.
- Blind listening in the first round, introduced in 2024, continues for 2027; only two women have ever won the competition — Sofya Gulyak in 2009 and Anna Tsybuleva in 2015, both Russian-born.
- The prize pot includes a £50,000 main prize plus new awards for contemporary music, best encore, a community-focused Leeds Piano Trail project for 2028, and an audience prize — Hough said an audience-jury split "would be a positive thing."
- Hough's stated philosophy is "this is not a test, but a platform" — he wants competitors to programme as if for a Wigmore Hall or Carnegie Hall debut rather than a conservatoire final exam.
Why it matters: Hough's overhaul reframes one of classical music's most storied contests from a high-stakes exam into a curated showcase, giving older and more artistically distinct pianists a credible path to recognition. With £50,000 and an audience prize on the line, the 2027 edition becomes a live test of whether industry gatekeepers and public taste can agree on a winner.
