You may not have heard of Hamamatsu, a Japanese city of 800,000 inhabitants, but names such as Yamaha or Kawai are most likely familiar to your ear. In fact, Hamamatsu and these two renowned piano makers share a bond forged by the city’s special history of craftmanship. The most famous Shogun, Tokunaga Ieyasu, gathered craftsmen from all over Japan to build a castle in Hamamatsu from where he would rule. In 1900, the first Japanese piano was built here, and now it is home not only to Roland Electric Pianos and Tokai Electric Guitars but also to the world famous Shinkansen Super Express carriages, aircrafts, textile and more.

In 1991, the City Council decided to launch and fund the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition. Past winners have included Sergei Babayan, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Rafał Blechacz, Alexander Kobrin, Seong-Jin Cho, Alexander Gadjiev, Florian Mitrea and most recently Can Çakmur.

The competition welcomes 100 candidates to take part, live, for the whole duration of the event. For three weeks, the pianists are hosted by the Hamamatsu Competition and those who are not involved in later rounds get opportunities to perform all over the city in community concerts, including numerous house concerts. They form life-long bonds and often get reinvited in subsequent years.

The involvement of the city and its people is incredible – I don’t think it could happen without the understanding and enthusiasm of its citizens. For three weeks, Hamamatsu is filled with the sound of the piano. In fact, the first thing you see on arrival by train in Hamamatsu is the piano showroom – alternating every six months between Yamaha and Kawai – set in the station!

With 100 competitors welcomed from around the world, we try our best to offer as many young pianists as possible the chance to come to Hamamatsu, by discounting their travel costs. As jury members, we are privileged to listen to so many live performances rather than listening over the internet. This way we get the incomparable flavour of in-person music-making. It’s rather an intense period for the jury members as there is no conferring between us about the candidates, so at times it can feel quite lonely.

In terms of repertoire, we set a manageable and realistic amount of music for the candidates to learn. For the second round, we have commissioned a piece by a Japanese living composer – this year it is a new work by Toshiro Saruya – and we will have the unique opportunity to hear 24 different interpretations of it. In the semi-finals, competitors are asked to present a Mozart Piano Quartet as well as their solo recitals. I find that the chamber round reveals so much about each player as an all-round performer. In the final stage, each pianist will play their programme with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ken Takaseki. Furthermore, they can pick the piano of their choice – whether a Kawai, Yamaha or Steinway – to perform on.

From a personal point of view, I was always a very nervous and worried competitor. In my opinion, I did well at the Leeds International Piano Competition (I won third prize in 1987) because it was so friendly, welcoming and positive. This is why I am convinced that the atmosphere of competitions is so important.

The only tips I can give to pianists considering applying are the following – be very well-prepared and choose programmes that you believe in. The Hamamatsu Competition offers complete freedom in that regard – whether virtuosic, Romantic, modern, Classical or Baroque-inspired programmes.

Young pianists nowadays seem to be so much tougher and more resilient than I was. They are happy to have microphones and cameras around them during performances and are very philosophical about the whole thing. But during these three weeks, the competition office is always on hand to offer any assistance to the pianists. And regardless of what happens, all the 100 pianists stay on for the entire duration of the competition and are encouraged to get involved in the musical life of the city.

In general, I would say that young pianists ‘enjoy’ entering competitions and they can usually cope with several per year. Someone like me, who can be worried and nervous, should pick and choose which competitions to go for. In 2018 just over 40 per cent of applicants were women. It would be great to see even greater numbers in 2024 going through the rounds.

Competitions are useful because you can present yourself in front of many professionals from the music industry at the same time. However, one can start a career by simply playing concerts and getting to know promoters that way. It may take time but it is possible. If competitions are not for you, you can try other ways, but please stop and think again about Hamamatsu. I guarantee it will be a positive, life-enhancing experience – the hospitality is fabulous and people in the city will never leave you alone!

As Can Çakmur, the winner of the 2018 Competition, said: ‘The food is amazing and it was the first time I saw the ocean! It has been an honour to go to Japan and now to be reinvited back there three times a year since winning the competition.’

If you would like to find out more, come along to our London showcase at Kings Place on Friday 19 January, where Can and myself with fellow jury member Paul Hughes will be in conversation with the former editor of International Piano magazine Claire Jackson at 6.15pm, prior to Can and I performing. You will get a chance to discover for yourself why Hamamatsu chose this remarkable Turkish pianist as the winner of the most recent competition – both in solo and chamber repertoire, including Schubert’s haunting final sonata and the last piece Beethoven wrote for the keyboard.

Hamamatsu International Piano Competition - Showcase

Kings Place (Friday 19 January, 7.30pm)

Fazıl Say New Life Sonata (UK Premiere)

Beethoven Grosse Fuge, Op 134 – for piano four hands

Mozart Piano Quartet No 1 in G minor, K478

Schubert Piano Sonata in B flat major, D960

Can Çakmur, Noriko Ogawa, Benjamin Gilmore, Rosalind Ventris, Tim Posner

Pre-concert talk at 6.15pm

The 12th Hamamatsu International Piano Competition will take place between 9 and 24 November 2024. Applications will open on 1 February and close 31 March 2024. Candidates must be born on or after 1 January 1991 (under the age of 33).

For further information see: www.hipic.jp/en/