Page 865 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

25-year-old Jaeden Izik-Dzurko from Canada has just won the Leeds
International Piano Competition – one of the classical music world’s most
prestigious prizes.

He was bestowed the trophy after delivering a winning performance of Brahms’
Piano Concerto No.2 played alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Orchestra under Domingo Hindoyan, at St George’s Hall in Bradford.

After winning, Jaeden told Classic FM: “I don’t think I was really able to fully
process it in the moment. There was such a huge build-up to the event and the
final announcement, but now I’m really overjoyed and humbled to be included in
the list of laureates that also includes some of my own personal musical heroes
and artists that have inspired me since I was a young aspiring pianist.”

Jaeden beat out four other pianists in the final: Junyan Chen (China), who came
in second place, Khanh Nhi Luong (Vietnam) who came in third, plus Kai-Min
Chang (Taiwan) and Julian Trevelyan (United Kingdom).

Jaeden described the experience of playing with the RLPO as “unforgettable”.

“They sounded so phenomenal on stage. And much of the writing in Brahms’
concerto is symphonic, so I often felt as though I was enjoying a beautiful
performance by the Philharmonic from the stage, from a perfect vantage point.
And Maestro Hindoyan was so wonderful to collaborate with, especially in a
high-stakes, high pressure situation like this one, he was so gracious and
accommodating of all my interpretive requests.”

Read more: Youngest ever Van Cliburn winner moved Marin Alsop to tears
with this rapturous Rachmaninov