1995:
NAOMI IWASE
Naomi Iwase was the first winner of a John Ogdon Scholarship Award of £3000 at the Royal Northern College of Music in 1995
Naomi
Iwase was born in Japan and studied in San Francisco and Tokyo. In
1991 she entered the RNCM where she was the first recipient of the John
Ogdon Scholarship. A top prize-winner at numerous international
competitions Naomi has won 1st Prize at the Eduard Flipse Competition
(Holland), Artur Rubinstein in Memorium Competition (Poland), Senigallia
International Competition (Italy) and most recently the 2000 Theodor
Leschetizky International Piano Competition held in Taiwan. As
a soloist Naomi performs throughout Europe, the Far East and America. She
has given debut recitals in Tokyo sponsored by the Chopin Society and
at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with Nikolai Demidenko, Peter Donohoe and
Dimitri Alexeev. Future plans include tours of Asia and Austria.
2004:
MARTIN STURFÄLT
Martin Sturfält won the 2004 Award of £5000 at Steinway Hall in 2004
Born
in Sweden in 1979, Martin Sturfält started to
play the piano around the age of four. He studied at the Stockholm
Royal College of Music and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama
in London. His principal teachers have been Esther Bodin-Karpe
and Stefan Bojsten in Stockholm, and Paul Roberts and Ronan O’Hora in
London. He has also participated in master-classes with several
distinguished teachers and performers.
Martin has had considerable success in piano competitions, winning first prize in both the 1999 Swedish and the 2002 UK Yamaha competitions as well as the 2002 Malmö Nordic ‘Blüthner’ Piano Competition, the 2004 John Ogdon Prize, and the 2005 Terence Judd Award.