The Sydney Piano Lovers' Competition

The Sydney Piano Lovers’ Competition

The Sydney International Piano Competition has always inspired pianists and audiences alike, stimulating interest in the piano and music in general and providing a platform to showcase outstanding pianists from around the world and assisting in developing their careers. In 2020, the Sydney Piano Lovers’ Competition was launched to provide inspiration for amateur Australian pianists, and for The Sydney to connect more deeply with Australian piano-loving audiences.

The international jury, comprised of Artistic Director Piers Lane AO, Kathron Sturrock (Royal College of Music, London) and Nikos Stavlas (Morley College, London), provided encouragement to mature pianists to pursue their musical goals, the winner to be rewarded with an invitation to perform in the Sydney International Online Piano Competition. In the end, the jury selected co-winners of the competition: Dr Tanya Hall and Ian Lucas.

Dr Tanya Hall achieved her LMusA at 14, winning an AMEB General Scholarship, and even performing concerts in Japan. She topped the state in 3U Music in her HSC, majoring in piano performance. When it came to choosing a career path, Tanya describes the decision not to pursue music as ‘heartbreaking,’ instead choosing medicine at university and then completing training as a psychiatrist. After a long break, Tanya has returned to the piano under her previous teacher Fr. Peter Dwyer, who studied under the late Eunice Gardiner. Tanya said ‘It would be an enormous honour for me to be able to perform in some small way at the competition I had long dreamed of entering.’

Ian Lucas is a retired airline pilot who began learning the piano at five years of age in Hobart, taught by his mother. He practised continuously through his teenage years with true love for the instrument. Professional life took over, but after a 32 year break, he returned to the piano, falling right back in love. He now houses a small concert hall on his property, Lucas Parklands, near Montville in Queensland, where he hosts classical concerts for the community throughout the year. Aptly, his beautifully crafted entry to the competition was dedicated to his late mother.

We want to thank all those who entered the inaugural Sydney Piano Lovers’ Competition and we are pleased to have connected with and inspired piano lovers in our community.

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Dr Tanya Hall

NEWCASTLE, NSW PROGRAM

Antonio Soler: Keyboard Sonata in F# major No.90

Robert Schumann/Franz Liszt: Widmung (Liebeslied)

Sergei Rachmaninoff: from 13 Preludes Op.32 XII. Allegro

Aram Ilyich Khachaturian: Toccata in E♭ minor

Ian Lucas

MONTVILLE, QLD PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach: from The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II Fugue No.7 in E♭ major BWV 876

Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in C# minor Op. Posthumous

Franz Liszt: from Années de Pèlerinage, Book II S.161/5 V. Sonetto 104 del Petrarca

George Enescu: Fugue from Prélude et Fugue

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