James Mottram International Piano Competition returns to RNCM this winter

The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) has opened applications for its biennial James Mottram International Piano Competition (JMIPC). The competition is set to take place from 27 November to 2 December this year.

Applications, which are open now, are set to close on 25 September with pre-selection taking place in October 2023. The three chosen finalists for this year’s competition will perform alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in concerto performances at the RNCM Concert Hall (pictured), competing for the competition’s £10,000 first prize, £5,000 second prize, and £2,500 third prize.

The competition, which was inaugurated in 2008 thanks to a bequest from the late James Mottram, aims ‘to encourage and reward skill in performing at the keyboard the music of Domenico Scarlatti, Chopin and Debussy’.

Born in March 1930 in Cheshire, Mottram studied Psychology at the University of Oxford, taking up the post of lecturer in the School of Politics and Contemporary History at Salford University in 1961 and retiring in 1982.

The JMIPC is available to pianists of any nationality under the age of 30. To remove barriers to entry, travel bursaries are available to shortlisted participants who live outside of Europe. Entrants can enter with video recordings of works by the chosen composers: one Scarlatti sonata, one Chopin étude and one Debussy prélude or étude.

Participants will receive development opportunities during their time in Manchester including a public masterclass given by a jury member. This year's jury will be chaired by Graham Scott, head of the RNCM’s School of Keyboard Studies and will include pianists Jean Efflam Bavouzet from France, Krzysztof Jablonski from Poland, Emanuel Krasovsky from Israel, Juan Lago from Spain, Rebecca Pennys from the US and Niklas Pokki from Finland.