15 May 2012
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Amateur Piano Competition winner triumphs in Paris too
<p> Remember Dominic Piers Smith (pictured)? He’s the energetic young pianist and aerodynamic engineer who won the 2007 <em>Pianist</em>-Yamaha Amateur Piano Competition. On 18 March he picked up another first prize – along the Press Award and the Audience Award – at the 23rd International Competition for Outstanding Piano Amateurs at Salle Gaveau in Paris</p> <p> </p> ...
Second prize went to Dr Kensucke Ota from Japan, third to Rickert Choi from Canada, fourth to Eugène Litvinenko from Russia and fifth to Amber Glynn from Australia.
Smith played a solo programme of Prokofiev, Liszt and Granados, and his first prize includes 3,000 euros, the chance to participate in two French music festivals and a performance (of Ravel’s Concerto in G) with the Orchestre Symphonique de la Garde Républicaine on 18 October. Smith lives in London and is Team Leader of an aerodynamics design group for Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team.
Said Smith after the event, ‘The only reason I entered really was because I’m playing new works in June in a festival [Pianefestival] and I thought it seemed an ideal opportunity to give them an initial airing and to play on a great piano in some amazing venues. Looking back to 2007 when my teacher mentioned the Pianist-Yamaha Amateur Competition just before the closing date for entries, I’m very glad I rushed home to get to a piano to record my entry CD, as I truly believe that was the start of all of this. The driving factor, and what’s kept me practising all the time, has always been my desire to give more performances to welcoming audiences and to share my thoughts through music.’