Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition

Tunbridge Wells International Concert Artists Competition (TWIYCA) is one of the region’s outstanding cultural gems, and it is the general view that the 2008 Competition was the best to date.

The Competition celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2010, and the Council of Management has decided to mark this anniversary both as a major event in its own right and, by using its past success as a springboard, develop the Competition even further.

The list of winners over the years fully demonstrates the success of the Competition in attracting the very best young musicians and helping them establish themselves in their careers. Paul Lewis (our president and a major international concert pianist) has already been mentioned.

Our 2006 winner, brilliant Lithuanian pianist Martyna Jatkauskaite, has gone on to play at the Cadogan, Royal Festival and Wigmore Halls, and the Barbican. Our winner in 2008 was the outstanding Ukranian pianist, Sasha Grynyuk, who will be returning to Tunbridge Wells in June 2009 to give a recital.

The Competition enjoys very strong support from the Borough Council, Kent College, Pembury, the Kent & Sussex Courier and the major English conservatoires.

More recently, one of our patrons, Christoph Nielbock, Director of the Wiesbaden Music Academy, has promoted the Competition strongly in Germany. We also had, in 2008 for the first time for some years, entrants from Canada and the USA.