Leeds International Piano Competition sees its first Syrian pianist

CAIRO – 22 December 2017: British-Syrian pianist will participate in the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition, making him the first Syrian to ever participate in the prestigious festival.

Described on his official website by International Piano magazine as "Syria's leading young pianist", Nicolas was born in Syria, Aleppo in 1989, and had been performing since the age of 10 when he performed as a soloist for an orchestra. Honing his talents further and further, Nicolas has grown to perform in a wide variety of orchestras worldwide, ranging from London Chamber Orchestra, to the Emirate Symphony Orchestra in Dubai, amongst many more.

The Leeds International Piano Competition was founded in 1961 in Leeds by piano teacher Fanny Waterman and has taken place every three years since then. This year’s participants range from all across the world, primarily from Asia and Europe, though thus far, no Arab pianists other than Nicolas have been announced to be participating in the prestigious festival.

The competition will run throughout 2018, starting in April with the second round to commence on September 6 until September 15.