International piano competition aims to 'tackle male dominance'

An international piano competition has set out to 'tackle male dominance' by introducing new rules for favouring female musicians.

The Leeds International Piano Competition has taken steps to give women a greater chance at winning after announcing new judging rules for this year's event. 

Juries, who vote on the outcome of each round, have been instructed to 'consider advancing' female competitors over their male counterparts in the event of a tie. 

They have also been told that there must be a revote in certain stages of the competition where there is a 'single gender outcome or an outcome significantly reduces the ratio of women to men'. 

The shakeup comes after CEO of the competition, Fiona Sinclair, announced earlier this year that organisers were 'compelled to confront' the apparent gender disparity in the event, which last year saw all male final. 

Ms Sinclair wrote in a Guardian article in March: 'We're taking a wide-ranging approach at this year's Leeds piano competition. 

'Through initiatives such as blind pre-selections, minimising biographical details throughout all rounds, unconscious bias training for jurors, and targeted career support for aspiring pianists, we are committed to modelling a more equitable stage. 

'We have also reviewed our voting processes with a lawyer – even though no legislation actually applies to competitions.'

The Leeds International Piano Competition is already well underway, with the finals taking place over the next two days at St George's Hall in Bradford. 

The finalists include two female pianists, Junyan Chen, who is based in the UK, and Khanh Nhi Luong, who is from Vietnam, as well as three male competitors - Canada's Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, Britain's Julian Miles Trevelyan and Taiwan's Kai-Min Chang. 

Instructions for jurors officiating the event this year stated that in the event of a tie between a male and female competitor during any round 'we ask the Juror to consider advancing her first'. 

The rules also state that if, during the second round and semi finals, had there been 'a single gender outcome or an outcome that significantly reduces the ratio of women to men' there would have been a revote by the jury. 

It is unclear whether such a scenario took place during this year's competition. 

Announcing the new measures in February, the Leeds International Piano Competition said they had been introduced 'to tackle the long-standing issue of male dominance in the piano world'. 

Jurors this year have also been required to take part in 'Anti Bias Training, which is aimed at eliminating both conscious and unconscious bias in order to promote a more equal environment for all competitors'. 

The winner of the competition will receive £30,000 as well as a debut recording with Warner Classics, a management deal with Askonas Holt and a number of international touring opportunities. 

Meanwhile, second place and third place will £18,000 and £12,000, respectively, as well as a number of other benefits, while fourth and fifth place will each receive £6,000.