International competition was a superb event

THERE was great excitement in Worthing when the finals of the second international piano competition were held in the Assembly Hall, where the acoustics are considered by experts to be as good as any in Europe.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st May 2013, 13:00 BST

International it certainly was, with 24 competitors from all over the world, with only one from England being considered good enough to be included. By Sunday, entrants were whittled down to three, each of whom played a major piano concerto in the presence of the mayor of Worthing and the mayoress.

The winner was Poom from Thailand for his superb playing of Rachmaninoff’s 3rd concerto.

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He just pipped Rabiga from Khazakhstan playing Prokofiev’s 3rd, closely followed by Olga from Ukraine, playing Brahms’ first. I found the standard of play out of this world, and I am delighted to hear that the winner and runner up have indicated they would be very happy to return to Worthing to delight future audiences.

John Gibbons, whose ability to communicate with the audience and persuade frist class soloists to come to Worthing is superb, conducted the Worthing Symphony Orchestra, the professional orchestra of West Sussex whose players are mostly from major London orchestras, so completing a wonderful combination of expert professional musicians who gave a crowded Assembly Hall a wonderful musical experience.

Alan Ireland

Knightscroft Avenue

Rustington

Related topics:EuropeThailandEngland