Yamaha Music UK announce London Piano Scholars recital finals

Yamaha Music UK have confirmed that the final recital performances of the prestigious Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholars will take place on 27 February at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The instrument discipline rotates each year and, since it’s inception in 1989, Yamaha’s charitable European Foundation has bestowed over 900 pan-European Scholarships for fulltime Conservatoire students, valued at over one million Euros in total.

Tickets for the event are free of charge and available on the door. According to organisers, the standard this year is extremely high. So, the event promises an exciting insight into the next generation of talented young pianists.

The highly respected judging panel comprises Aaron Shorr, Head of Keyboard & Collaborative Piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; Graham Scott, Head of Keyboard Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music; Joanna MacGregor, Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music; Peter Tuite, Head of Piano and Keyboard Instruments at Trinity Laban; Ronan O'Hora, Head of Keyboard Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Vanessa Latarche, Head of Keyboard at the Royal College of Music. The panel will select three overall winners from the record number of entries received for the 2017 competition.

Yamaha’s Charles Bozon comments, 'Yamaha is committed to supporting and providing a professional performance platform for Europe’s very best new talent, and this well-established and respected scholarship programme is an excellent example of that commitment in action. For anyone passionate about the piano, classical music and new talent, this is an event not to be missed.'

The ten 2017 finalists are:

Miss Louise Cournarie                                    Royal Academy of Music

Miss Arisa Onoda                                           Royal Academy of Music

Mr Konstantinos Destounis                            Royal College of Music

Miss Maria Inês Barbosa Da Costa               Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Miss Jingjing Wan                                          Royal College of Music

Mr Martin James Bartlett                                Royal College of Music

Mr Ryan Drucker                                            Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Miss Maria Kustas                                          Royal College of Music

Miss Hao Zi Yoh                                             Royal Academy of Music

Miss Tamila Salimdjanova                              Royal College of Music

Information and tickets