Fumiya Koido at the Battle Festival: a piano concerto fit for an emperor

Fumiya Koido playing with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition

The Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra opens its latest season (2019/20) with a piano concerto at St Mary in the Castle.

The event takes place on Friday, October 11 (7.30pm), and is part of the Battle Festival, which runs throughout October.

It features the winner of this year’s Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition (HIPCC) Fumiya Koido.

A Hastings Philharmonic spokesperson said: “Koido was star-performer at his graduation concert before the Japanese Emperor at Tokagaku-do in the Imperial Palace.

“This spring, 46 competitors from all around the world (11 from the US) arrived in Hastings for the International Piano Concerto Competition at the White Rock Theatre. In just over a week of performances, the judges decided on six finalists to compete in two nights of concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. First prize went to the 23-year-old Fumiya Koido from Japan, who graduated top of the class as a scholarship student from the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music.

“Koido ‘dazzled in a bright, athletic and perfectly paced account of Ravel’s G Major Concerto’ according to Michael White of the Catholic Herald. Ellie Palmer of the Pianist Magazine described his performance of Ravel’s piece as ‘quite stunning’. It was indeed refreshing to listen to his choice of Ravel, offered as an option for the first year, after years of competitors’ heavy emphasis on Rachmaninov and Liszt to prove their virtuosity. Ravel’s concerto is both challenging and provides plenty of scope to demonstrate a fingertip sensitivity that Koido offers in spades. This sensitivity will be equally welcome when he interprets a Mozart piano concerto, the popular no 23.”

The Battle Festival concert will be conducted by Marcio da Silva and will offer a delightful programme of the Mozart ‘Haffner’ Symphony, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.23 and Beethoven’s Symphony No.4.

Tickets cost £22.50 (stalls) or (£17.50), Under 18s can get in for free. Visit www.musicglue.com or purchase tickets from Hastings Tourist Information Centre (01424 451111) or the Bookkeeper, Kings Road, St Leonards.

Click here to find out more about Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra or here to find out more about the Battle Festival.

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