CELEBRATED MALAYSIAN YOUNG PIANIST ADDS EASTBOURNE’S NORAH SANDE AWARD 2023 TO HIS LIST OF INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Julian Chan - Winner of the 2023 Norah Sande Award |
Julian Chan presented with the Norah Sande Award Winner's cheque by Richard Deering |
The Norah Sande Award, an international piano competition held annually in Eastbourne was won on 9th July by Royal Academy of Music Steinway Award pupil Julian Chan who thrilled the Birley Centre audience with a range of exciting pieces. Rapidly developing a reputation as one of the most innovative pianists of his generation, Julian Chan has given performances at prestigious venues across the UK, including Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Regent Hall, and the Sheldonian Theatre. Performing music by a particularly diverse range of composers, he has given alluring recitals featuring works by figures from Sweelinck to Messiaen, from Alkan to Rzewski, unifying these various styles in a captivating manner. Recently, Julian has been awarded First Prize and Sonata Prize at the Nanyang International Music Competition, Singapore, and First Prize at the Coulsdon and Purley Festival with his performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. A passionate composer and performer of new music, Julian has collaborated with a number of eminent composers. Julian is currently recipient of the Ronald and Rita McAulay Award at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studies with Ian Fountain and Michael Dussek.
Sussex concertgoers will be able to enjoy Julian’s talents again when he will be the soloist at the Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Autumn concert. This honour for the Norah Sande Award winner is in addition to a cheque for £2000.
This year’s finals weekend came the week after a thanksgiving service for Founder Chairman and Trustee, John Crawshaw. The current Chairman, Brian Knights, paid tribute to the man who had worked so hard to create and administer the Awards from the start more than 18 years ago. The Award audience and adjudicators remembered fondly all that John had done to promote youth participation in the arts in Sussex.
The final stages were held in the purpose-built concert hall at the Birley Centre, Eastbourne College. Semi-finalists performed a 20 minute programme on Saturday 8th July before a prestigious adjudication panel, Richard Deering (Chairman) and Ruth Gerald - keyboard exponents of international repute. Three were chosen to perform a full recital programme incorporating classical, romantic and contemporary pieces the following day. Richard Deering said that it was a particularly tough task to choose between the three finalists who wowed the Eastbourne audience over the weekend.
Aida Lahlou was named as runner up and received a cheque for £1000. Born in Casablanca, Aida won her first international piano competition at age 8. She studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at St John’s College Cambridge and is currently at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Peter Bithell and Ronan O’Hora. She has also directed four operas and is writing a one-woman show mixing stand up comedy and the classical piano recital format.
Third place and a cheque for £500 was given to Leah Nicholson who studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Prof Tessa Nicholson. A winner of numerous international music competitions, Leah has performed in many of the great concert halls of Europe.
"The adjudicators said that the standard had been exceptional for this year’s Norah Sande Award which continues to attract talented young pianists on the cusp of an international performing career” said Brian Knights, the Award’s Chairman. "Applications were of a high quality which enabled us to put on an outstanding Second Round and Final, enjoyed by the audience now loyal to the annual Award. The Birley Centre is proving to be a very fine concert hall for the region and we are looking forward to hosting our nineteenth Award finals there next year.”
Julian Chan delighted the audience with his performance in the final round of Beethoven’s Sonata Op.31 No.1 in G major, Chopin’s Etude Op.10 No.8 in F major and Rzewski’s North American Ballads: IV. Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
Previous winners of the Award have been performing in top concert halls around the world and achieving great accolades. Details of the 2024 Award and entry form will shortly be available on
www.sande-award.co.uk. This Award has been enabled by a substantial bequest from the late Norah Sande, in memory of her Grandmother, Alice Mary Caffen.
Left to Right:
Brian Knights, chairman, Richard Deering, chair adjudicator, Aida Lahlou, runner up, Julian Chan, Norah Sande Award winner 2023, Leah Nicholson, third place, Ruth Gerald, adjudicator.