Page 832 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

reverse order. As the numbers went higher and I still hadn’t heard my name, I thought,

oh, my goodness,” he says. “The next day there were so many things to think about for

the future.” The prize catapulted him into a hectic schedule with debuts across Europe,
the Far East, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Proms.

Competitions such as the Leeds, as it is known, show classical music in a healthy state.

Applications to participate in the Leeds are soaring — this year there were 366, almost

double the number in 2018, and live streams are snowballing. The International Chopin
Competition in 2021 had an online audience of nearly a quarter of a billion.

The LIPC final in 2021
But amid a wealth of talent, only one British pianist initially went through to the quarter-

finals this year — and the last time a Brit won was Ian Hobson in 1981. Callum

McLachlan, who is 25 and from Manchester, will play either Robert Schumann’s Piano

Concerto in A minor, or Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, K271, if he
makes the final. The jury decides which.