Hastings offers "very best hospitality and kindness" to pianists from around the world

Morimoto won the title, £15,000 and the Molly Townson Memorial Trophy after giving a thrilling performance of Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor Op 54 accompanied by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

During the two-night final six finalists each performed a concerto with the world-famous orchestra to sell-out audiences at the historic White Rock Theatre on Hastings seafront.

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Second prize and £7,000 was awarded to British pianist Thomas Kelly, who dazzled the audience with a performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor Op.30

Third prize and £3,000 was awarded to Mariamna Sherling from Russia who gave a spectacular performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.3 in C major Op.26. Fourth prize and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Prize (voted for by members of the orchestra and presented by the conductor Rory Macdonald) was awarded to Aleksandr Kliuchko from Russia.

Fifth prize was awarded to Fedor Orlov from Russia and sixth prize was awarded to Sandro Nebieridze from Georgia.

It all represented a hugely successful return for a competition which had to be postponed twice and yet came back strongly, pretty much doubling its number of entrants. This year it attracted 360 entrants from 42 countries. Usually the competition would be looking at about 175 entrants from 25 countries.

Managing director of Hastings International Piano Ian Roberts said the numbers reflected perhaps the competition’s growing prestige and the fact that it’s the one competition in the world with two orchestras, plus the fact the prizes are “really generous.”

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A big innovation this year was that the entire competition was streamed live for the first time on YouTube and the competition’s website, reaching new local, national and international audiences for the first time, making it “one of the most accessible cultural events in the UK,” Ian said.

Also for the first time, the competition took place in both Rye at The Rye Creative Centre and Hastings, the competition home.

Hastings International Piano welcomed an international jury of respected pianists, conductors and orchestral leaders to the historic south coast. Led by President of The Jury Professor Vanessa Latarche, head of piano at The Royal College of Music, the jury included Paul Hughes (UK) – director of the BBC Symphony Orchestra; Aisa Ijiri (Japan)– pianist and Steinway Artist; Stanislav Ioudenitch, (Uzbekistan/USA) – winner of the Gold Medal at Van Cliburn Piano Competition; Diana Ketler (Latvia) pianist, festival director and professor of piano, Scott Dunn (USA), conductor, pianist and composer; and Anthony Byrne (Ireland) international pianist and professor of piano at The Royal Irish Academy of Music.

Ian added: “I am delighted that this was our best ever competition, with new friendships forged and solidarity show by competitors to each other throughout the past two weeks. Our audiences have been bigger and even more diverse this year and the standard of the pianists has been outstanding.

“Our host families and volunteers have been the backbone of our competition welcoming the world to Hastings and offering the very best hospitality and kindness to all of our competitors from around the world and I am proud that we have delivered an exceptional experience for both competitors and audiences alike, whether they were part of our live audience or watching from home.

“The competition has discovered a number of hugely talented artists and their trailblazing performances, especially during the final with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, have enthralled our town and will be remembered for many years to come.

“To support the growth of audiences and educational outreach opportunities, Hastings International Piano produced the inaugural Hastings International Piano Festival, which took place over two weeks in February and March 2020.”

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