Founder and Artistic Director Dame Fanny Waterman Stepping Down after 53 Years with Leeds International Piano Competition

The Leeds International Piano Competition will look at least a little different during 2016. After this year's event during August and September, Dame Fanny Waterman will be stepping down from her traditional role as the artistic director for the music contest. She and her husband Geoffrey de Keyser, as well as accomplished pianist Marion Thorpe, founded the Leeds Competition during 1961. Although her husband died during 2001, she has maintained her role in the competition and will serve one last time during 2015. She is 94 years old.

"I look back with pride at the international eminence the competition has achieved over the past half century. The cottage industry we dreamed up in 1961 has become, as Denis Healey, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, once said 'one of the musical wonders of the world,'" she said in a statement, according to Classical-Music.com. "I feel ready now, after the 2015 Competition, to hand over the reins, confident that it will continue to thrive and grow, offering a platform of opportunities for young pianists, music lovers and audiences long into the future."

Waterman was a piano instructor and accomplished player, having published a number of educational books on the subject prior to helping to found the Leeds International Competition. She, her husband and friend Thorpe founded the event hoping to give local competitors inspiration to compete with the strong international field of classical pianists. Many renowned performers have competed in the event, although not all of them have won. American pianist Murray Perahia won first prize during 1972, but Hungarian András Schiff "only" got to finalist status when he competed during 1975.