Japanese pianist Fumiya Koido wins 2019 Hastings International Piano Competition

Japanese pianist Fumiya Koido has taken home 1st prize at the 2019 Hastings International Piano Competition after a quite stunning performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.

Koido performed the Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The first-prize winner took home a cash prize of £15,000 plus future concerto performance engagements with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and additional performance opportunities in both the UK and the USA. 

Second Prize Winner was awarded to Maxim Kinasov from Russia, who gave an impressive performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor Op.23 and received a cash prize of £7,000. Kinasov also received the special ‘Orchestra Prize’ voted for by players of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and in addition will receive future performance engagements. 

The finalists performed at the White Rock Theatre in front of a sell-out crowd

Now revered as one of the UK’s premier classical competitions, the competition took place in the creative hub of Hastings, culminating in a live 2-day sell-out final at The White Rock Theatre with 6 finalists all playing a full concerto with the RPO, one of The world’s most revered orchestras. The competition becomes a biennial event from 2019 and continues its relationship with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the world’s leading orchestras.

Additional prize winners

Third Prize - Eric Guo - Canada
Fourth Prize - Yuanfan Yang - UK
Fifth Prize - Sylvia Jiang - New Zealand
Sixth Prize - Alexander Yau - Australia

Special Prize of £1,000 Awarded to a British Contestant reaching the Final - 
Yuanfan Yang