It has been seven years since audiences sat in a concert hall to hear 32 musicians aged from 18 to 32 years thrash it out for a prize in the Sydney International Piano Competition, AKA The Sydney.

The four-yearly cycle was thrown out of sync by the pandemic with the 2020 event postponed to 2021 and going online, with contestants submitting their own videos for assessment.

Now it is time for the reconfigured 2023 event – which runs from 5–22 July – and the audience was back in Sydney Conservatorium’s magnificent Verbrugghen Hall for an opening Gala Concert with a new twist.

Instead of the traditional opening showcasing the previous prizewinner, Artistic Director Piers Lane staged a recital featuring glittering performances by seven of the eight jury members who will assess the 32 preliminary rounds (20 minutes each); 16 semi-finals (65 minutes), starting 12 July, and the four final concerto rounds at the Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to see who takes home the $205,500 prize money, including the $50,000 for the overall winner.

As well as the solo recitals the 16 semi-finalists, drawn from a field which includes three Australians and only five women, will perform a chamber work...