23rd
València
Iturbi
International
Piano
Competition
From 4 to June 14, 2025
Paul Hugues
Paul Hughes joined the BBC in 1999 and for 23 years was Director of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Director of the BBC Singers for ten of those years. A graduate of Trinity College of Music where he studied piano, composition and conducting, Paul Hughes came to the BBC following key roles with The Academy of Ancient Music (General Manager), IMG Artists, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Chief Executive) and the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra (General Manager).
Under his directorship, the BBC ensembles toured the world, recorded extensively, expanded audiences live, on air and on social media, undertook a wide range of innovative education and audience development projects and championed new music, new composers and new artists.
A former Governor of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for nine years, Paul has a passion for discovering and nurturing the next generation of musicians and audiences and is a member of the conducting faculty at the Royal College of Music, as well as a guest lecturer at several of the UK’s leading conservatoires, mentoring young conductors and composers.
He is the recipient of honorary membership from Trinity College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Royal College of Music and has been honoured by the Finnish government with the award of Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion, for services to Finnish music and musicians.
Paul Hughes’ career now focuses on mentoring, nurturing and teaching early career conductors, composers and arts administrators; and on orchestral programming and strategic planning.
He is Director of Programming and Mentoring for the Lead Foundation in Finland; a regular guest lecturer to Norway’s prestigious Dirigentløftet programme where he gave the keynote speech at the Conducting Change conference in 2023; is a market advisor to Music Norway, consultant to the National Concert Hall, Dublin, a visiting lecturer for the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, and later this year will give his first lecture at the Tokyo College of Music.
Paul Hughes is regularly invited as a juror for international competitions including the Hamamatsu, Hastings and Honens Piano Competitions, the Long Thibaud Crespin piano and violin competitions, the Besançon and Svetlanov conducting competitions and the NCPA Young Composer programme in Beijing, China. He will return to Japan in Autumn 2024 as juror for the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, to Spain for the Iturbi Prize in 2025, and to the Classic Cello Competition in 2026.
He is a board member of Welsh National Opera.
