AAF-2022

Preface The fact that the pandemic continued throughout the year 2021 caused much frustration. Having already lasted for two years, it has had a huge impact on our lives and societies. Also the competition organisers had to adjust to the constantly changing situation in the world and the restrictions imposed by governments. In 2021, more events could take place than in 2020, but our endurance is still being tested, as mutants of the virus continue to plague us. We all hope that this pandemic will soon be better under control.

In spite of all hardship, we must stay optimistic. Music remains important. Making music and listening to music gives comfort and can heal. Competitions provide a platform and opportunities for musicians. They will always exist. Some competitions are discontinued, but in other places new ones emerge. This new edition of the AAF e-catalogue has been fully revised and updated for the year 2022. It contains again a lot of useful details about many international piano competitions worldwide. As can be seen from the competition pages in the second section of this e catalogue, there is a large variety: major competitions that have a lot to offer and smaller events which are also frequented by many pianists. Each event has its own characteristics. Taking part always brings valuable experience. There are more and more online and ‘hybrid’ competitions. The rules and procedures have to be clear and transparency is particularly important (see pages 34-36). In this edition of our catalogue we have marked the online competitions with a small image of a video camera. It should be noted that there are also competitions which are only occasionally held online due to the circumstances and temporary restrictions. It was truly a good idea to issue this catalogue as a digital publication. It is much better for the environment and it enables us and the competition organisers to make adjustments and updates at any time. Also last year, this was frequently done. On page 14, there will again be listings of all the changes and updates after this catalogue came out. Another great advantage is that there are many links in this catalogue: by clicking on a website address, the reader can easily jump to the corresponding website and can thus check the latest information there as well. In September 2022, the 2 nd AAF Conference will be held! We are very grateful to the Liszt Utrecht Competition for their collaboration in facilitating this unique gathering in their city. We are very much looking forward to it!

Gustav Alink

Alink-Argerich Foundation 2022