Cypriot pianist, 10, wins Grand Prix at London competition
Leonidas Nikolaou won the Grand Prix in the 8–10 category at an international piano competition in London.
London, United Kingdom. Ten-year-old Cypriot pianist Leonidas Nikolaou won the Grand Prix at an international piano competition held in June at Duke’s Hall at the Royal Academy of Music.
Competition performance
Nikolaou performed Mozart’s “Alla Turca” from Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major (K.331) and won the competition’s 8–10 age category.
A total of 35 young pianists from different countries took part, with Nikolaou the only participant representing Cyprus.
Musical development
His parents told Phileleftheros that he showed an interest in musical instruments before the age of two.
He began piano lessons at five, following in the footsteps of his mother, who was a pianist when she lived in Russia, his father Dimitris Nikolaou said.
Nikolaou now practises for at least one and a half hours each day and has three additional lessons each week with his teacher.
Future ambitions
Nikolaou said classical music is his favourite and that he has recently begun learning electric guitar.
“I want to become a musician and focus more on the piano. My dream is to play piano in the Symphony Orchestra,” he said.
Despite his age, Nikolaou has also competed internationally in Austria and Germany.
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