Most in city unaware of world-famous piano competition, its founder says

Dame Fanny Waterman has claimed that while people across the world know about the contest, in her experience, the average person in Leeds is not aware of it.

The 93-year-old great-grandmother was speaking at Leeds Civic Hall, where she requested the use of the building for the last few nights of the 2015 competition. The contest was founded in 1961 and occurs every three years, making 2015 its golden anniversary celebration event. Dame Fanny is urging council bosses to help drive major publicity for the event while the competition is going on.

“Thank you for this opportunity to speak about Leeds International Piano Competition and its golden anniversary,” Dame Fanny told councillors.

“We have introduced to the world some of the greatest pianists of our time. Yet if I walk out of this hall and I stop a passer-by and ask ‘have you heard of the Leeds International Piano Competition?’ they give me a blank stare. This has to be rectified.”

She joked that on her many global travels, whenever she mentions Leeds it is “no longer your football team but the competition” which people are reminded of.

“At the time of the competition, my taxi driver in Warsaw would ask me who has got through to the second stage.

“I don’t think anybody here would realise it’s actually going on,” she said.

“I’m not asking for money, but help with making [the city] more beautiful at the time of the competition.”

The competition is credited with putting Leeds on the global cultural map and launching the careers of numerous maestros including Romania’s Radu Lupu.

Ambassadors include former Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, who said watching the competition was a source of solace during her 15 years of house arrest.

There have been 16 competition sto date, the first of which was back in 1963 when the first prize was won by British pianist Michael Roll.

Young pianists from across the world flock to the city for the chance to win the coveted Princess Mary Gold Medal. The competition’s first ever female first prize-winner was Sofya Gulyak in 2009.