8th

The 8th British Contemporary Piano Competition took place at the University of Surrey (Guildford) on October 28th to 31st 2010. Prizes totalling £4,300 with a CD recording, concerto and festival engagements were awarded to the first prize winner.

First prize was awarded to Benjamin Powell at the prestigious British Contemporary Piano Competition 2010, held at the University of Surrey last weekend, 28 – 30 October.

The Competition, hosted by the University’s Department of Music and Sound Recording, and Sound and Music, was founded in 1988 by Philip Mead to promote contemporary piano music and to help the careers of those pianists who wish to play it. The competition is unique in dealing only with piano music of the last hundred years with an emphasis on music composed since 1976.

This year’s Competition was held at the University of Surrey from Thursday 28th – Saturday 30th October, with three prize winners being announced following the final concert and adjudication on Saturday evening. The result was as follows:

• First Prize: Benjamin Powell
• Second Prize: James Kreiling
• Third Prize: Alex Wilson

Congratulations to Benjamin Powell who wins the University of Hertfordshire Recording prize of £2000, a CD recording, and a festival engagement at the Guildford International Music Festival in March 2011.

Benjamin studied with Carole Presland at the Royal Northern College of Music and later with Pierre- Laurent Aimard and Alexander Melnikov at the Hochschule für Musik Cologne and Royal Northern College of Music respectively.

Benjamin has performed across the UK and Europe in venues including the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Bridgewater Hall, and his trio, with Oliver Heath and Christopher Murray, are currently Young Artists in Residence at Salford University. Since 2007, Benjamin has been a staff pianist at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Philip Mead, Founder, Artistic Director and member of the jury, said of the winner,

"Benjamin Powell has shown himself as a consummate musician with a transcendent pianistic technique in the service of a refined musicality. Some of his performances during the competition were truly breathtaking. He was a worthy first prize winner."

Many of today's leading contemporary pianists have been past prize winners and eminent musicians serve on the jury.