Latest news with #DIPC
RTÉ News
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Live Watch: Dublin International Piano Competition Final 2025
RTÉ Culture presents live coverge of the Final of the 13th edition of the Dublin International Piano Competition from National Concert Hall, Dublin - watch above from 7.30pm on Friday, May 16th, or listen live on RTÉ lyric fm here. The finalists perform with Ireland's National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jonas Alber. Hailed as one of the most respected platforms for emerging classical talent, this year's DIPC has drawn participants from across the globe. Dublin International Piano Competition - the finalists: ANSON YING SHUN WONG (24) (Canada) - who will perform Prokofiev's 2nd Piano Concerto YOUNG-HO SHIN (18) (South Korea) - who will play Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto
RTÉ News
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
RTÉ to livestream Dublin International Piano Competition finals
Audiences around the world can tune in live as 25 of the globe's most gifted young pianists descend on Dublin this week for the prestigious 13th Dublin International Piano Competition (DIPC). The competition's climactic final on 16th May will be livestreamed via RTÉ Culture and broadcast on RTÉ lyric fm, with earlier rounds also accessible on the DIPC YouTube channel. Hailed as one of the most respected platforms for emerging classical talent, this year's DIPC has drawn participants from 12 countries. The quarter-final rounds will take place from 9th to 11th May, followed by semi-finals on 13th and 14th May, both hosted at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The grand final at the National Concert Hall will see three finalists perform full piano concertos with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Jonas Alber. Open to the public, the competition offers a rare opportunity for Irish audiences to hear the next generation of piano virtuosos. Finghin Collins, Artistic Director and jury chair, welcomed the competitors with enthusiasm. "It's a great pleasure to welcome this outstanding group of young pianists to Dublin," he said. "These talented artists represent the very best of the next generation. I would encourage everyone with a love of great music to join us for what will be some hugely enjoyable performances." This year's competition stands out for its inclusion of contemporary works by four Irish composers: David Coonan, Roger Doyle, Ailís Ní Ríain, and Judith Ring. Commissioned by RTÉ lyric fm, these pieces must be performed by all contestants, offering a spotlight on Ireland's vibrant contemporary music scene. The semi-finalists will also perform chamber music with the acclaimed ConTempo Quartet. The DIPC's international jury includes renowned pianists Michel Béroff (France), Piers Lane (Australia/UK), Noriko Ogawa (Japan), Dénes Várjon (Hungary), and Ireland's Hugh Tinney, alongside Katie McGuinness, Chief Artistic Officer at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Winners will share in a prize fund worth €35,000, with the top prize of €20,000 sponsored by KPMG. The first prize also includes a Carnegie Hall recital debut and a series of international engagements. Second and third prizes of €10,000 and €5,000 and several special category awards will also be presented. Watch the 13th Dublin International Piano Competition (DIPC) final on 16th May from 7pm via RTÉ Culture and listen via RTÉ lyric fm, with earlier rounds also accessible on the DIPC YouTube channel.
RTÉ News
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Something for the Weekend: Finghin Collins's cultural picks
A former child prodigy, Finghin Collins launched his international career by winning first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland at the age of 22 in 1999. Since then, he has become one of Ireland's most celebrated musicians and performed extensively across Europe, the US, the Far East, and Australia, both as a soloist and chamber musician, and with many of the world's leading orchestras. Finghin is the Artistic Director of the prestigious Dublin International Piano Competition (DIPC), which returns to Dublin this May and will see 23 pianists from 12 countries compete in what is considered one of the world's leading piano competitions. We asked Finghin for his choice cultural picks... FILM The last film I saw was Maria, the Maria Callas biopic with Angelina Jolie. It's great to see how many mainstream movies have been released recently about classical music – I'm thinking of Tár (2022) and Maestro (2023) in particular. While it's easy to pick holes in movies of this genre which are so anchored in reality and which require actors to sing/conduct/perform as if they were world-class musicians, I did find Maria very moving in its depiction of Callas' final weeks. MUSIC Music is my life so to recommend a piece of music is very difficult. I am regularly asked who is my favourite composer and it changes weekly depending on what repertoire I am performing! Having said that, there are some constants in my life and I think Mozart and Schubert are very much in the top drawer of my life's loves. I have performed many Schubert songs with different singers this year and it always brings special joy. In particular, I performed one of Schubert's most demanding songs Erlkönig for the first time in February – a great challenge but hugely rewarding. BOOK At the moment, I am just finishing The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, an entertaining and stimulating exploration of Irish society and family relations. The book that affected me most last year was Paul Lynch's Prophet Song – very chilling. THEATRE I went to see Emma at the Abbey at Christmas time. My friend and I had seats in the second row, within spitting distance of the actors. I have rarely laughed so much - it was irreverent but not disrespectful to Jane Austen's novel. The actors were amazing - I don't know how they have the energy to perform the show over and over again, and sometimes twice in one day. TV I don't really watch television apart from the odd news bulletin. For my guilty pleasures, I do look up old episodes of Are You Being Served? on YouTube! GIG I perform regularly in Switzerland and am off there again in late May for a performance with a French wind quintet. Back in Ireland, I'll be at the Dublin International Chamber Music Festival, performing in Killruddery on June 8th – always a very special place to perform. The last concert I attended was Nathalia Milstein, the 2015 winner of the Dublin International Piano Competition, who performed Brahms' monumental Second Piano Concerto with an orchestra in the Netherlands. It's great to see her career going from strength to strength. ART One of my favourite artists is the Dublin batik artist Bernadette Madden. Her work is individual, classy and very rooted in the local landscape/cityscape. Bernadette is also a personal friend, so perhaps I'm biased! Her imagery has been associated with the Dublin International Piano Competition for many years and since I became Artistic Director of the Competition, I have sought to strengthen the connection. I love listening to radio as you can do other things at the same time (drive a car, do the ironing, cook the dinner – not, sadly, practice the piano!). Current affairs programmes remain my staple, I am constantly fascinated by the editorial choices that must be made on a daily basis – which topics to cover/how to cover them fairly/how to interview somebody firmly but politely (if there are saying things that seem outrageous to you, but perhaps not to others) and so on. I think in another life I would have liked to present a current affairs radio programme but I may not always be able to keep my cool! TECH I'm actually trying to reduce my use of Apps and have deactivated my social media accounts in recent months. It's a great relief - and really I am convinced that social media does not play an overwhelmingly positive role in society. I do try to keep my website updated because that remains an important source of information. THE NEXT BIG THING... Everyone says Artificial Intelligence is the next big thing – but really I think genuine human intelligence is so much more attractive and I'll be sticking with this for the foreseeable future.
