This week I’m on the jury of the Trondheim International Chamber Competition, which this year is for piano trios. During the day we’ve been listening to nine piano trios playing very demanding programmes, and in the evenings we’ve been rehearsing for and playing in concerts of our own, in the festival which runs parallel with the competition. It’s a challenging combination which makes everyone feel that their minds and hearts are fully utilised.

Today we reached the semi-final stage of the competition, and have chosen three trios for Sunday’s final. Two are based in Paris -the Trio Paul Klee, and the Trio Atanassov. The third, the Fournier Trio, is based in London. I say ‘based in’ because the nine musicians involved in these trios cover a wide geographical area from Australia to Korea as well as France and the UK.

It is very interesting how sometimes we all sit earnestly writing comments in our jury notes while people play. Sometimes, I feel compelled by the quality of the playing to put down my pencil and just sit back and enjoy the music-making, and often when I glance to my left and right along the row of tables, I realise that my fellow jurors are doing the same. These are my favourite moments of the competition.