Prizewinning teenage pianist a modest maestro

Denny Lui's winning performance brought tears to the eyes of judge Michael Houstoun. Picture / Malcolm Pullman

King's College fifth former Denny Lui, 15, last night won the Kerikeri National Competition for Pianists and took a step towards international stardom at the same time.

A capacity audience at The Centre, the region's arts and cultural complex in Kerikeri, gave the youngster a huge reception after he performed a selection from Haydn, Granados and Prokofiev.

"I'm pretty happy and excited about the result," Lui said.

"I'm feeling a bit lucky. All the competitors were superb.

"Maybe Mr Houstoun [the judge] thought I was very young and deserved a break."

Lui, who studies under Qu Yong, received New Zealand's most prestigious piano award and $5000 in prizemoney from eminent New Zealand pianist and competition adjudicator Michael Houstoun.

Mr Houstoun said Lui had given compelling performances throughout.

"The winner has brought tears not just to my eyes but to the eyes of others too. I think that is a sign of something special."

Lui's triumph came after three days of intense competition in which 14 pianists from throughout the country played before Mr Houstoun.

The New Zealand pianist was standing in for initial adjudicator and celebrated Australian pianist Ian Munro, who was seriously injured in a car crash in Australia in May and had to cancel all engagements until August.

Mr Houstoun described the competition in Kerikeri as "by far the best test for pianists in the solo repertoire in this country."

In two preliminary rounds, competitors played a sonata by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn or Schubert on Friday, then a half hour programme of their choice on Saturday.

The trio chosen as finalists, Lui, Hao Chen and Hong Yui-Yang, presented a 45-minute programme to a sold-out auditorium late yesterday.

All performances were from memory.

Hao, second, won $2500 cash, and third-placed Hong received $1000 in cash as well as vouchers from Yamaha.

Lui's victory places him alongside previous winners of the competition who have gone on to international success.

These include Stephen de Pledge, Dan Poynton, Henry Wong Doe and Emma Sayers.