AAF-2025
International piano competition guidebook published by AAF (Alink-Argerich Foundation), edition 2025. Publication date: 4 February 2025. Frequently updated.
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Alink – Argerich Foundation An Independent Worldwide Information and Service Centre for Musicians and Competitions Martha Argerich (Patron / co-founder) International Advisory Board Agustin Anievas - Vladimir Ashkenazy
Drs. Gustav A. Alink (Director / co-founder)
Recommendation Committee Mr. A.A.M. (Dries) van Agt † Drs. R.F.M. (Ruud) Lubbers † Dr. A.H.G. (Alexander) Rinnooy Kan Prof. Dr. Ir. J.J.C. (Joris) Voorhoeve et al.
Aldo Ciccolini † - Arnaldo Cohen Philippe Entremont - Nelson Freire† Gary Graffman - Adam Harasiewicz Ton Koopman - Alexei Lubimov Eugene Moguilevsky † - Süher Pekinel Paul Pollei † - Pnina Salzman † Tamás Vásáry - Eliso Virsaladze
The Alink-Argerich Foundation was founded in November 1999. It grew from research Gustav Alink had done on Piano Competitions worldwide since the early 1980s, while Martha Argerich has always been keenly interested in assisting young musical talent.
AAF gathers and diffuses important facts, competition results, announcements and other news items as well as unique pictures through its web site: www.alink-argerich.org Updated every week!
Contact address: P.O. Box 85600
www.alink-argerich.org Tel.: (+31) 70 - 3634760 aafout@yahoo.com /AlinkArgerichFoundation e-mail : mail@alink-argerich.org
NL-2508 CH The Hague
The Netherlands
Statutory seat: The Hague registered at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Haaglanden KvK Nr. 27183935
Preface August 2024, the 3 rd AAF Conference was held in Cleveland (Ohio, USA). It was overwhelming and heart-warming to see that around 80 competition organisers from all over the world had decided to come to our conference, even though it was for most of them a long trip. I was very happy to see them all. We are very grateful for their participation in the fruitful discussions during the sessions and the breaks. The next conference has been scheduled for 2026 and will be back in Europe. It will be great if those who were unable to attend in Cleveland can then also join us again.
In musical sense, 2025 will be a most exceptional year with many important international piano competitions: the famous Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the Queen Elisabeth in Brussels, the Cliburn, Beethoven, Honens and many more. All these competitions play an important role. Not only do they offer the young musicians a platform to present themselves, but they also give them substantial support for their future careers. At some of these competitions, the prize money is astonishingly high. Five years ago, when the covid pandemic hit the world and we all had to live with social restrictions for quite a while, most of the music competitions were scaled down. At the same time, online competitions became very popular. Now, it has become almost standard for many competitions to carry out a preselection by video and then to allow only a drastically reduced number of pianists to come to the live rounds of the competition. We can also see more and more that after an initial application fee, another participation fee is requested. At the same time, there is a huge desire by all those aspiring young musicians around the world to have an opportunity to perform and to start a career. As a consequence, the number of applications by pianists to participate in an international competition has been going up enormously. Last year, quite many competitions reported to have received record numbers of applications. It is a huge task for the competition organisers to carefully examine and evaluate hundreds of video recordings. At the same time, one may wonder how they can manage to do so in a fair way, each panel member giving serious and equal attention to every applicant’s recording. It’s truly wonderful when a competition has the means to arrange for live auditions We are all looking forward to a very exciting musical year with beautiful performances and great winners at all these competitions!
Gustav Alink
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
Table of contents
Page nrs. Preface ................................................................................................................................. 1 Table of contents .............................................................................................................. 2-3 International Piano Competitions Worldwide ................................................................. 4-5 Reflection on 2023 .............................................................................................................. 6 Preview 2024 ....................................................................................................................... 7 List of AAF member competitions ................................................................................ 8-12 Disclaimer ......................................................................................................................... 13 Correction page ................................................................................................................. 14 Application deadlines in 2024 ..................................................................................... 15-16 Calendars ........................................................................................................................... 17 2025 ............................................................................................................................ 18-21 2026 ............................................................................................................................ 21-24 2027 ............................................................................................................................ 24-26 Age limits ..................................................................................................................... 27-29 Competitions/categories for Junior pianists ................................................................. 30-33 Confused ? ......................................................................................................................... 34 Selection procedures ......................................................................................................... 35 Online competitions ..................................................................................................... 36-38 Various rounds .................................................................................................................. 39 Performance times ....................................................................................................... 40-44 Performance times at Youth competitions ................................................................ 45-46 Chamber Music ............................................................................................................ 47-49 Practicing facilities ............................................................................................................ 50 Concerto Repertoire .......................................................................................................... 51 Mozart Concertos ...................................................................................................... 52-53 Piano Concertos ........................................................................................................ 54-57 Travel assistance ............................................................................................................... 58 Accommodation ................................................................................................................ 59 Jury Rules & Recommendations .................................................................................. 60-63 AAF Award .................................................................................................................. 64-65 AAF Receptions ................................................................................................................ 66 AAF Conference .......................................................................................................... 67-68 Essential matters ................................................................................................................ 69 Competition pages 7 0 Australia .................................................................................................................... 71-72 Austria ....................................................................................................................... 73-77 Belgium ..................................................................................................................... 78-83 Bosnia and Herzegovina ................................................................................................. 84 Brazil .............................................................................................................................. 85 Bulgaria .......................................................................................................................... 86 Canada ...................................................................................................................... 87-89 China ......................................................................................................................... 90-91 Colombia ........................................................................................................................ 92
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Page nrs. Croatia ....................................................................................................................... 93-95 Czech Rep. ..................................................................................................................... 96 Denmark ......................................................................................................................... 97 England ................................................................................................................... 98-100 Finland .......................................................................................................................... 101 France .................................................................................................................... 102-113 Georgia ......................................................................................................................... 114 Germany ................................................................................................................ 115-133 Greece ........................................................................................................................... 134 Hong Kong ............................................................................................................ 135-139 Hungary ................................................................................................................. 140-143 Ireland ........................................................................................................................... 144 Israel ...................................................................................................................... 145-147 Italy ....................................................................................................................... 148-175 Japan ..................................................................................................................... 176-181 Korea ............................................................................................................................ 182 Lithuania ....................................................................................................................... 183 Morocco ................................................................................................................ 184-185 Netherlands ........................................................................................................... 186-189 Norway ......................................................................................................................... 190 Poland ................................................................................................................... 191-196 Portugal ................................................................................................................. 197-198 Romania ................................................................................................................ 199-201 Scotland ........................................................................................................................ 202 Serbia .................................................................................................................... 203-206 Singapore .............................................................................................................. 207-208 Slovak Rep. .................................................................................................................. 209 Slovenia ........................................................................................................................ 210 South Africa ................................................................................................................. 212 Spain ..................................................................................................................... 213-224 Switzerland ........................................................................................................... 225-230 Taiwan .......................................................................................................................... 231 Thailand ........................................................................................................................ 232 Turkey ................................................................................................................... 233-234 Ukraine ......................................................................................................................... 235 U.S.A. .................................................................................................................... 236-259 Master classes and Academies 26 0 Italy ............................................................................................................................... 261 Japan ............................................................................................................................. 262 Argerich’s Meeting Point in Beppu (Japan) Advertisements by Fazioli, Kawai, Steinway&Sons and Yamaha
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International Piano Competitions Worldwide The following graph shows how many international piano competitions have taken place within a given year.
* the very first international piano competition was the Anton Rubinstein Competition in St. Petersburg, 1890. It was held five times at five-year intervals (and in different cities). * only those competitions have been counted which are international and which are open for piano. Competitions that have various age categories have been counted as one. * amateur competitions have not been included. Neither have 'mixed' competitions been included (where pianists compete against other instrumentalists or singers).
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
Many competitions … From the graph on the opposite page, it can be seen that there was a strong increase of competitions until the year 2002. It looks like an exponential growth. People spoke of an explosion of competitions. The peak was reached in 2002: in that year not less than 336 international piano competitions (for solo pianists) took place*. Interestingly, after 2002, the amount of competitions decreased and lingered around 300 for many years. An explanation for this could be a certain level of saturation and also the effect of the economical crisis. However, in 2017, a large amount of new competitions emerged and the number suddenly jumped to a new record of more than 350 international piano competitions taking place within that same year. In 2020, the number of competitions dropped dramatically, as more than 160 competitions were cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis. It is surprising that more than 180 could still be held. Many of these, however, were online competitions. Already one year later (2021), altogether more than 270 international piano competitions took place again. Since not all competitions are annual, the total number of existing international piano competitions is much higher. It is a fair estimate that there are at the moment more than 1000 international piano competitions worldwide. With some 300 competitions being held within a year, one might think that there are also 300 first prize winners. Actually, this number lies again higher. Although the first prize is not always awarded, there are also quite a few competitions that employ various age categories, especially in France and Italy. Each of these age groups can produce several winners. There has even been an international piano competition with 26 different categories each year! Competitions in Asia can also have many classes (more than 60!) at different levels. Even more prize winners With so many competitions, the pianists have ample choice to enter the event which they consider the most attractive or the best suited, in terms of dates, location and repertoire. In 2023, there were two pianists who managed to take part in 17 international competitions within that year. The total number of applications was even higher. With the sudden rise of online and hybrid competitions, pianists have still more opportunities to apply. They send their best recordings to different places. This is not necessarily a positive development. Some remarks and observations on pages 36-38. *: these numbers are based on the research Gustav Alink did all over the world, focusing on the international competitions. There might still be other competitions that have been overlooked, in which case the numbers are even higher. Ample choice Peak
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2024
More than 250 international piano competitions took place in 2024 … Many interesting ones. In February, the first Kharkiv meets Zürich competition was organised as wonderful tribute and extension of the well-known Krainev Competition for Young Pianists which was held 14 times in Kharkiv (Ukraine). Many youngsters from a school assisted and got very inspired. A special Junior Jury was formed, as was also done at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv (2023) as well as in Istanbul and at the Concours Géza Anda. At the same time, the Classic Piano competition took place in Dubai. The participants were pianists who had been selected at one of 14 international pre-competitions plus a few others who had been granted special admission. Andrey Gugnin took the staggering first prize in the value of 150,000 Euros. In 2016, he had also won the Sydney Competition and in 2023 the International German Piano Award. In May, the Montreal competition was won by Jaeden Izik-Dzurko who went on to be the winner of the Leeds competition in October as well! He thus succeeded to collect five first prizes almost in a row (after having been 1 st in Barcelona, Hilton Head and Santander in 2022). In Leeds, there was a strong desire to have at least one female contestant among the finalists. At other competitions, this was generously fulfilled by an all-female final round in Finale Ligure (Italy), Villafranca (Italy) and the Gurwitz competition (San Antonio, USA). In June, many had looked forward to the presence of Martha Argerich as jury member at the Concours Géza Anda. She had just travelled back to Europe from Japan and had her 83 rd birthday during the competition in Zürich. The level of performances was so impressive that it was hard to make decisions as to who might not pass to the next round. Mikhail Pletnev conducted the Mozart concertos and Paavo Järvi the orchestra in the final round. Ilya Shmukler was declared winner of this 16 th edition of the Géza Anda Competition. One week later, the 18 th Gina Bachauer Competition started, for which 333 pianists had applied. Ilya Shmukler had also been accepted there as one of the contestants, but after Zürich he withdrew from the Bachauer. Youl Sun took the first prize in Salt Lake City. In August, Piano Cleveland celebrated the 50 th anniversary of the Cleveland International Piano Competition which had started in the 1970s as the Robert Casadesus Competition. The pianists enjoyed some truly innovative events. Highlight was the finals with the Cleveland Orchestra, won by James Zijian Wei. Just before the finals, the AAF Conference was held which had attracted some 80 organisers of other competitions from around the world. In September, Roman Lopatynskyi became winner of the Enescu competition. In China, the Xiamen IPC was back again, taking place just before the Hamamatsu Competition. Around 640 pianists had applied for Hamamatsu. There was an even slightly higher record number of applicants for the Busoni Competition! For the first time in 33 years, Hamamatsu had a Japanese winner and for the first time female: Manami Suzuki. At the same time in November, Andrey Gugnin handed over the Int’l German Piano Award to this year’s winner Magdalene Ho from Malaysia, who had also won the Clara Haskil competition in 2023.
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2025
The year 2025 promises to be an amazing year, full of international piano competitions. Already in January: the US ASU Bösendorfer and Yamaha competitions in Tempe (AZ, USA) with Martha Argerich on the jury as well as performing in one of the concerts, together with competition organiser Baruch Meir. In February, the Schubert & Modern Music Competition in Graz (Austria) will be open for piano duos. One week later, the fifth International Schumann Competition for Young Pianists will be held in Düsseldorf. Amsterdam will host the 2 nd European YPF Competition. March invites to attend the Vladigerov Competition in Sofia or to be at the competition in Aarhus (Denmark) or Hilton Head (USA). The second half of March is packed with competitions that are partly overlapping. Two Bach competitions in Germany: Leipzig and Saarbrücken. Before these finish, the competitions in Kronberg, Dortmund and Epinal will start. At the same time, other pianists will travel to compete in Barcelona ( Maria Canals ) or Paris ( Long-Thibaud ). Young aspiring pianists can have the chance to have their pianistic skills evaluated by Martha Argerich who will be again on the jury at the Jeune Chopin Competition in Lugano. In April another focus on young pianists at the first PSIPC in Palm Springs (CA, USA) and the Brin d’Herbe competition for contemporary music in Orléans (France). Vigo (Spain) is open to all pianists, without age limits. In April/May, the piano world will be filled with excitement about the live auditions of the world-famous Chopin competition in Warsaw, the Queen Elisabeth competition in Brussels, the Beethoven in Vienna, as well as Dublin and the Cliburn in Fort Worth (TX, USA). They can also be followed by the excellent webcasts. The stakes at these renowned competitions are high. Above all there is the prestige and fame of winning, but also a huge value of the awards, such as the US$ 100,000 first prize at the Cliburn followed by concert engagements all over the world. In Vienna, the first prize includes a brandnew Bösendorfer grand piano. In June, much of our attention will be on Spain and Portugal, where the competitions in Valencia ( Iturbi ), Malaga, Porto ( Santa Cecilia ) and Lleida ( Ricard Viñes ) will take place. At the same time, Sendai (Japan) will have the 9 th edition of the competition, where Yuja Wang won 3 rd prize in 2001. In August, pianists will still have a chance to take part in the Rosario Marciano competition in Vienna and to perform in the Ehrbar Saal. A climax of this pianistic year will be reached in October, when the 19 th Chopin Competition will take place in Warsaw, overlapping with the Hong Kong IPC, the Olga Kern IPC in Albuquerque (NM, USA) and the Honens in Calgary (Canada). Before the year is over, we may come back to Poland for the Paderewski Competition or travel to Rome, Roubaix, Manchester or Paris (another highly dotated Chopin competition).
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
AAF member competitions (as of February 2025)
member since
Australia
Sydney ¹ Sydney ²
Sydney International Piano Competition Aegio International Piano Competition Int’l Béla Bartók Piano Competition Int’l Comp. Franz Schubert and Modern Music
2015 2021 2017
Austria
Graz ¹ Graz ²
2013 ○ Oberschützen Int’l Jenö Takács Competition for Young Pianists 2010 Vienna ¹ Int’ler Ludwig van Beethoven Klavierwettbewerb 2018 Vienna ² International Rosario Marciano Piano Competition 2009 □ Vienna 3 Wiener Mozart Internationaler Klavierwettbewerb 2024 Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition 2004 Merci, Maestro! International Piano Competition 2015 International Competition Music Academy FORTE 2023 Grez Doiceau Rencontres Internationales des Jeunes Pianistes 2016 Brussels ² Brussels 3
Belgium Brussels ¹
○Kraainem Tournai Sarajevo
César Franck International Piano Competition Concours International André Dumortier Int’l Piano Competition Memorial Matusja Blum
2013 2009 2023 2023 2010 2004 2024
Bosnia Brazil Bulgaria Canada
Rio de Janeiro International Piano Festival Rio de Janeiro
Sofia
Pancho Vladigerov International Piano Competition 2015
Calgary Montreal
Honens Piano Competition & Festival Concours International Musical de Montréal
Sorel-Tracy Concours International de Piano
China
□ Shenzhen China Shenzhen Int’l Piano Concerto Competition 2006 Xiamen ¹ Xiamen International Piano Competition 2024 □ Xiamen ² Xiamen Music Season Int’l Piano Competition 2024 Zhuhai Int’l Mozart Competition for Young Musicians 2014
Colombia Croatia
Ibagué
Blanca Uribe International Piano Competition Int’l Piano Competition Memorijal Jurica Murai International Competition Young Virtuoso Svetislav Stančić International Piano Competition 2017 2024 2016 2010
Varaždin Zagreb ¹ Zagreb ²
Czech Rep.□○ Brno
Amadeus International Piano Competition
2024 2025 2009 2011
Mariánské Lázné Chopin International Piano Competition
Denmark ○ Århus
Aarhus International Piano Competition Hastings Int’l Piano Concerto Competition
England
Hastings London
London Overseas Musicians’ League Competition 2023 RNCM James Mottram Int’l Piano Competition 2007 Helsinki Int’l Maj Lind Piano Competition 2005
Manchester Helsinki
Finland France
Cagnes-sur-Mer Concours Int’l de Piano Samson François
2022 2022 2019 2012 2015 2024 2016
Collioure
International Piano Competition Alain Marinaro Concours International de Piano Epinal Concours International de Piano de Lyon
Epinal Lyon
Maisons-Laffitte Concours International de Piano Ile-de-France Pierre Barbizet International Piano Competition
Marseille Mayenne
Concours International Piano à Mayenne
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Orléans ¹ ○ Orléans ²
Concours International de Piano d’Orléans Concours International de Piano Brin d’Herbe Concours Int’l de Piano - Grand Prix Animato
2003 2011 2002
Paris
Pontoise Roubaix Tbilisi
Piano Campus - Journées Européennes de Piano 2004 Int’l Piano Competition Les Étoiles du Piano 2017
Georgia Germany
Tbilisi International Piano Competition MozArte Int’l Piano Competition Aachen Int’l Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn International Chopin Piano Competition Brahms -Klavierwettbewerb Detmold
2007 2006 2004 2011 2018 2004
Aachen
Bonn
Darmstadt Detmold
Dortmund International Schubert Competition
○ Düsseldorf ¹ Düsseldorf ² Düsseldorf ○ Ettlingen Kronberg ¹ ○ Kronberg ² Munich ¹ ○ Munich ² Munich 3 Troisdorf Weimar Zwickau Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong Budapest ¹ Budapest ² Budapest Budapest 4 Tel-Aviv ¹ ○ Tel-Aviv ² ○Tel-Aviv 3 Dublin Fulda Int’l German Piano Award ( IGPA )
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Ireland Israel
Italy
□ Enna
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Lazise Livorno Lovere Milano ¹ Milano ² Minerbio
Amadeus Competition Livorno Piano Competition
2022 2025 2016 2011 2019 2011 2024
Tadini International Piano Competition
Massarosa Concorso Pianistico Internazionale Massarosa
Premio Internazionale Antonio Mormone International Competition Piano Talents International Competition for Young Pianists
Monza Novara
Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition 2005 Sergio Fiorentino International Piano Competition 2024 Orbetello International Piano Competition Nuova Coppa Pianisti International Competition 2015 International Piano Competition Roma - Chopin 2010 2017
Orbetello Osimo
Rome Sacile
FVG International Piano Competition 2012 San Benedetto del Tronto Int’l Piano Competition La Palma d’Oro 2017 San Donà di Piave Concorso Pianistico Internazionale 2014 Sanremo Russian Piano Music International Competition 2019 Seregno ¹ Concorso Pianistico Internazionale Ettore Pozzoli 2004 ○ Seregno ² Concorso Pianistico Internazionale Elsa Pozzoli 2013 Terni Int’l Piano Competition Alessandro Casagrande 2014 Trapani Int’l Piano Competition Domenico Scarlatti 2022 Verona Verona International Piano Competition 2013 Villafranca Villafranca International Music Competition 2024 Hamamatsu Hamamatsu International Piano Competition 2001
Japan
Sendai
Sendai International Music Competition
2006 2008 2001 2013 2016 2024
Takamatsu Takamatsu International Piano Competition
Tokyo ¹ Tokyo ² Tokyo ³ ○ Buksam-ri
PTNA Piano Competition for Promising Pianists The Int’l Chopin Piano Competition in Asia Shigeru Kawai International Piano Competition Yeoncheon MK Young Artist Int’l Piano Comp. International Stasys Vainiunas Music Competition 2011 Morocco Philh. Orchestra Int’l Music Competition 2010 Concours International de Piano Son Altesse Royale la Princesse Lalla Meryem 2012 YPF European Piano Competition - Youri Egorov 2019 Int’l Piano Competition for Young Musicians 2002
Korea
Lithuania Morocco
Vilnius
Casablanca
Rabat
Netherlands Amsterdam
○Enschede Hilversum
Globe International Piano Competition
2023 2001 2004 2023 2004 2019 2019 2004 2014 2018
Utrecht Bergen
Liszt Utrecht Competition
Norway Poland
Edvard Grieg International Piano Competition
Busko Zdrój Krystian Tkaczewski Int’l Piano Competition
Bydgoszcz
Paderewski Int’l Piano Competition Int’l Juliusz Zarębski Music Competition
Łomianki
Rzeszów International Competition of Polish Music
○ Szafarnia
Int’l Chopin Piano Comp. for Children and Youth 2013 Chopin International Piano Competition Santa Cecilia International Piano Competition Concurso Int'l de Piano de Viseu - Solar de Prim
Warsaw
Portugal
Porto Viseu
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Romania
Bucharest Craiova
International Competition George Enescu Dinu Lipatti International Piano Competition Carl Filtsch Int'l Festival-Competition Int’l Isidor Bajić Piano Memorial Competition WPTA International Piano Competition ULJUS International Piano Competition Zemun International Music Competition Singapore Int’l Piano Competition SIPC / SYIPC
2006 2024 2022 2012 2005 2012 2024 2024 2018
Sibiu
Scotland Serbia
Glasgow Scottish International Piano Competition
Novi Sad ¹ Novi Sad ² Smederevo
○Zemun
Singapore □ Singapore ¹
Singapore Singapore Bratislava Ljubljana
2 Singapore International Classical Piano Competition 2024 3 Singapore Raffles International Music Competition 2024 J.N. Hummel International Piano Competition Ljubljana Festival International Competition - Piano 2022 2009 Int’l Music Competition Maria Canals Barcelona 2007 Campillos International Piano Competition 2007 María Herrero International Piano Competition 2011 Concurso Internacional de Piano Premio Jaén 2004 International Piano Competition Spanish Composers 2007 Ricard Viñes International Piano Competition 2010 WPTA Spain International Piano Competition 2021 Málaga International Piano Competition Marbella International Music Competition Concurso Internacional de Piano Clamo Music Valencia Iturbi International Piano Competition 2013 2023 2016 2016 2022 2010 UNISA International Music Competitions
Slovak Rep. Slovenia
Radovljica Radovljica International Piano Competition
South Africa Pretoria
Spain
Barcelona Campillos
Granada
Jaén
Las Rozas
Lleida Madrid Málaga Marbella Murcia Valencia
Vigo
Vigo International Piano Competition Prix du Piano "Interlaken Classics"
2017 2016
Switzerland Bern
○Fribourg
Concours Int’l de Piano de Fribourg 20 th /21 st Century 2024
Genève
Concours de Genève
2007
○Genthod ○Lugano
Concours Int’l pour Jeunes Musiciens Genève Musicale 2022 Int’l Jeune Chopin Competition for Young Pianists 2019
Zürich Taipei
Concours Géza Anda
2021 2019
Taiwan Thailand Türkiye
International Maestro Piano Competition
Bangkok Adana
Int’l Piano Island Festival & Piano Competition 2017 Adana Rhapsody International Piano Competition 2024 Int’l Piano Competition-Istanbul-Orchestra’Sion 2013
Istanbul
Ukraine
Kyiv
Horowitz Competition
2022 2015 2023 2007 2014 2025 2018 2007
USA
Albuquerque Olga Kern International Piano Competition Fou Ts’ong International Piano Competition Cleveland Cleveland International Piano Competition Boston
Dallas
Dallas International Piano Competition
○ East Lansing Votapek International Piano Competition
El Paso
Borderland Chopin International Piano Competition 2023
Fort Collins International Keyboard Odyssiad & Festival
Fort Worth
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
Hartford
Chopin International Piano Competition
2023 2005 2022 2022 2020 2008 2021 2024
Hilton Head Hilton Head International Piano Competition
Honolulu
Aloha International Piano Competition
Los Angeles ¹ Pacific Stars International Piano Competition
Los Angeles ○ Milwaukee
2 GOCAA International Piano Competition
PianoArts North Amer. Biennial Piano Competition 2009
New Orleans New Orleans Int’l Piano Competition
□ New York ¹ New York New York New York 4
NTDTV International Piano Competition 2 New York Franz Liszt Int’l Piano Competition 3 Washington Int’l Rachmaninoff Music Competition 2024 Ocean Music International Piano Competition 2024
○Oberlin
Thomas & Evon Cooper Int’l Competition
2006 2024 2006
Palm Springs Palm Springs Int’l Piano Competition PSIPC Salt Lake City Gina Bachauer Int’l Artists Piano Competition San Antonio The Gurwitz International Piano Competition 2019 □ San Francisco San Francisco Int’l Piano Competition (prev. Artciál) 2022 Silicon Valley Silicon Valley Open Doors Int’l Piano Competition 2025 Tempe Bösendorfer & Yamaha US ASU Int’l Piano Comp. 2007 □ ○ Washington ThatsIt! Youth Piano Comp. 2024 Japan 2014 ○ the competition focuses on (very) young pianists - age limit not higher than 22 . apart from a main competition for the more adult pianists, the organisers also arrange contests or divisions for younger pianists, with lower age limits. (They may be held in the same time period, but may also occur separately or in alternating years, e.g. Weimar, Cliburn, Cleveland, Hilton Head, Salt Lake City.) □ this competition has no actual page (yet) in the current edition of the AAF catalogue. this is an online competition: the participants must submit a video recording of their performance. NB a few competition pages have not yet been updated. We hope to receive them soon. Tokyo Showa Piano Art Academy Other organisations, academies and events, affiliated with AAF Italy Eppan Piano Academy Eppan - A.B. Michelangeli Prize 2009
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
Disclaimer . Worldwide, more than 1000 international piano competitions exist. AAF monitors most of them and has extensive documentation about them. This catalogue focuses on the 200 AAF member competitions and organisations and contains an enormous amount of details. While utmost care has been taken to present accurate information in this catalogue, AAF cannot assume responsibility for any inconvenience caused by ill-reading, mistake, unfortunate formulation or omission. Neither can AAF be held responsible for the content of the individual competition pages. Especially in these uncertain times, there are frequently changes and it will therefore happen that some of the details are no longer valid. As this is a digital publication, updates and corrections can be made relatively easily. On page 14, there are links to the complete lists of updates that have been made since this year’s catalogue came out. While we try to keep this catalogue as up-to-date as possible, the reader may also check AAF’s website for latest news and announcements: www.alink-argerich.org (updated every week). AAF’s website also informs about other piano competitions, not necessarily affiliated with AAF. For additional information, assistance or complaints, feel free to contact AAF at any time (mail@alink-argerich.org or aafout@yahoo.com).
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Corrections This page has been reserved for links to corrections and updates that have been noted and implemented after this 2025 edition of the AAF e-catalogue came out.
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
Application deadlines in 2025
24 April 30 April 30 April 30 April 30 April 30 April
San Donà di Piave (it)
1 January Casablanca (mrc) 4 January Hong Kong [online] (hk) IMCA 11 January Kronberg (frg) 12 January Warsaw (pol) Chopin 13 January Budapest (hun) Liszt Ferenc 15 January Tokyo (jpn) Shigeru Kawai 25 January London (gb) Overseas League 31 January Jaén (esp) 1 February Fribourg (ch) 1 February Hartford (CT) (usa) Chopin 4 February Orléans (f) Brin d'Herbe 10 February Viseu (prt) 15 February Buksam-ri (cor) Yeoncheon MK 28 February Málaga (esp) 1 March Hong Kong (hk) HK IPC 1 March Brussels (b) Merci, Maestro! 1 March Mayenne (f) 2 March Avellino (it) Premio Mater 3 March Sacile (it) FVG 4 March Szafarnia (pol) Chopin 10 March Lamporecchio (it) Schumann 15 March Vigo (esp) 16 March Orbetello (it) [online] 16 March Trapani (it) Scarlatti 17 March Castelnuovo di Farfa (it) Arte-Piano 20 March München (frg) Piano Summer 28 March Munich (frg) ARD 30 March Orbetello (it) 31 March Murcia (esp) CLAMO 1 April Lyon (f) 1 April Zemun (serb) 1 April Los Angeles (CA) (usa) GOCAA 6 April Porto (prt) Santa Cecilia 6 April Orbetello (it) 7 April Geneva (ch) Genève Musicale 10 April Lleida (esp) Ricard Viñes 10 April Oberlin (usa) Cooper 15 April East Lansing (MI) (usa) Votapek 18 April Maisons-Laffitte (f) ~ 19 April Sarajevo (bosn) Matusja Blum 20 April Milano (it) Piano Talents 21 April Tokyo (jpn) PTNA 22 April Bydgoszcz (pol) Paderewski
New York (NY) (usa) Wash.-Rachm.
Tel-Aviv (isr) Scherzo
Seregno (it) Ettore Pozzoli
Smederevo (serb) ULJUS [online]
Silicon Valley (CA, usa) Open Doors [onl.] 1 May New York (NY) (usa) Liszt New York 1 May Cagnes-sur-Mer (f) Samson François 1 May Collioure (f) 2 May Düsseldorf (frg) Anton Rubinstein 4 May Taranto (it) Arcangelo Speranza 4 May Zhuhai (chn) Mozart 9 May Düsseldorf (frg) Anton Rubinstein 10 May Ljubljana (slvn) 2026 14 May Bonn (frg) Telekom-Beethoven 15 May Bangkok (thl) Piano Island 15 May Massarosa (it) ~ 15 May San Francisco (CA) (usa) SFIPC 15 May Mariánské Lázné (cz) Chopin 25 May Porto (prt) Santa Cecilia -Y 26 May Budapest (hun) Bartók World 31 May Novi Sad (serb) WPTA [online] 31 May Hong Kong (hk) Intellectuals [online] 1 June Granada (esp) María Herrero 1 June Roubaix (f) Etoiles du Piano 6 June Boston (usa) Fou Ts'ong 10 June Geilenkirchen (frg) Euregio 15 June Fort Collins (CO) (usa) Odyssiad 15 June Villafranca (it) 15 July Albuquerque (NM) (usa) Olga Kern 15 June Brussels (b) Acad. Forte 20 June Busko Zdroj (pol) Tkaczewski 30 June Vienna (a) Rosario Marciano ~ 30 June Sydney (aus) Aegio 30 June Singapore (sing) Classical 30 June Eppan (it) Piano Academy 30 June Tournai (b) André Dumortier 1 July Hong Kong (hk) Chopin Memorial ~ 15 June Tel Aviv (isr) Stretto 15 June Fulda (frg) Pianale
~ 1 July Honolulu (HI) (usa) Aloha ~ 1 July Sibiu (rum) Carl Filtsch ~ 2 July Troisdorf (frg)
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
1 October 3 October 7 October 8 October 10 October 13 October 15 October 17 October 17 October
Las Rozas (esp) Spanish Composers
4 July 6 July
Düsseldorf (frg) Clara & Robert S.
Brno (cz) Mozart Lazise (it) Amadeus Rome (it) Chopin Grez-Doiceau (b) EPTA Kronberg (frg) IGPA
Verona (it)
13 July 17 July 31 July 31 July 31 July 31 July 31 July
Finale Ligure (it) Palma d'Oro
Livorno (it)
Aachen (frg) MozARTe
Novara (it) Sergio Fiorentino
Campillos (esp)
Rabat (mrc) Princess Lalla Meryem
Budapest (hun) Danubia Talents
Sanremo (it) Russian Music Aachen (frg) MozARTe Y
Radovljica (slvn) Radovljica ~ 24 October Tokyo (jpn) Chopin 2026 ~ 31 October Singapore (sing) SIYPC 2026 ~1 November Enna (it) F.P. Neglia ~ 2 November Lomianki (pol) Zarebski 4 November Paris (f) Chopin ~ 8 November Osimo (it) Nuova Coppa Pianisti 15 November Graz (a) Bartók 2026 15 November Kraainem (b) César Franck ~ 25 November Pontoise (f) Piano Campus 2026 ~ 30 November Bern (ch) Interlaken Classics 2026 ~ 6 December Orléans (f) 20th & 21st Century 2026 12 December Barcelona (esp) Maria Canals 2026 15 December Dallas (TX) (usa) 2026 ~ 19 December Grosseto (it) Scriabin 2026 31 December Hilversum (hol) GIPC 2026 ~ 31 December Hong Kong (hk) HKYPAF 2026
1 August ~ 1 August 10 August 20 August 31 August
Los Angeles (CA, usa) Pacific Stars OL
Marbella (esp) Lovere (it) Tadini
Takamatsu (jpn) 2026
Utrecht (hol) Liszt 2026 ~ 1 September San Benedetto del Tronto (it) La Palma d'Oro 10 September Minerbio (it) ~ 10 SeptemberAcquaviva delle Fonti (it) ~ 15 SeptemberEnschede (hol) 2026 15 September Salt Lake City (UT) (usa) Bachauer Y 2026 ~ 25 SeptemberManchester (gb) James Mottram 28 September Hastings (gb) Concerto 2026 ~ 30 SeptemberZagreb (crt) S vetislav Stancic 2026 ~ 30 SeptemberHilton Head (SC) (usa) 2026 1 October Novi Sad (serb) Isidor Bajic
N.B. Competition organisers sometimes decide to extend the application deadline, hoping for more pianists to apply. This is then usually announced at the last moment, so it is advisable to double-check the websites. Naturally, one should never count on this and always try to apply well on time. The organisers will appreciate it. At some competitions, two application deadlines are set (and even mentioned in the rules). Pianists who apply after the first deadline, are required to pay an additional “late application fee” (or “late processing fee” ). Other competitions try to stimulate pianists to apply earlier by mentioning a special “early-bird” deadline. The Santa Cecilia Competition in Porto (Portugal) as well as the Orbetello (Italy) handle different application deadlines for the main competition and for those who wish to take part in one of the junior categories. This has to do with the preselection phase. NB: a few competitions require the pianists who have successfully passed the preliminary round, to apply or register again for the final stage. This is specially seen at competitions where the preliminary round is held online.
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
Competition calendars
On the next pages, competition calendars are given for the years 2025, 2026 and 2027. Application deadlines and age limits for contestants have been added. The age limits refer to the main competition or the highest category. In a few cases, there is a main division for pianists aged between 18 and 32, for example, and other categories, in which younger, but also older pianists may take part. In these cases, “all ages” has been written in the calendar. Y : indicates a special focus on (very) young pianists (see the special pages for juniors) +Y : indicates an additional category (categories) with lower age limits. In these cases, the number of categories has also been stated; - these competitions with a special focus on junior pianists have been singled out and grouped together on pages 31-33, where the age brackets for all the different categories can be seen more clearly; - sometimes, the competition is part of a festival. If participation in the entire festival (or master classes) is not mandatory, the period of the piano competition might be shorter; - at some competitions participants for the main competition (or senior category) may arrive later than participants in the junior categories; - in some cases, the dates of a competition may still change. Every effort has been made to have all information as correct as possible at the time of publication; ~: whenever a tilde (‘~’) appears, precise dates or age limits were not known or unsure at the time of publication; the information was derived from the previous event; NB when the competition was postponed and the pianists who may take part have already been selected, the age limits may also have slightly changed; online competition. Some period has been indicated. (see also pages 36-38); - the calendars for 2026 and 2027 list competitions that are expected to be held, based on their frequency, but it may very well happen that a competition is rescheduled.
AAF’s website is frequently updated. www.alink-argerich.org
There, the competition calendars can also be found: in clear diagrams for each month, where it can readily be seen which competitions overlap and in which region of the world they are taking place, but also as a list in a PDF which can easily be downloaded.
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
Calendar of events AAF Member Competitions taking place in 2025-2027 Y : indicates a special focus on (very) young pianists (see pages 31-33) +Y means a special category/-ies with even lower age limits 2025
Perio d Age l . 3 - 9 January [ 4 Nov] Tempe (AZ) (usa) Bösendorfer/Yamaha US ASU 19-32 + Y 9 - 10 January [31 Aug] Utrecht (hol) ' Liszt/von Weber' [semifinals] 19-29 9 - 19 January [24 Oct] Tokyo (jpn) 'Chopin' [various cat.] all ages + Y 13 - 17 January [15 Nov] Taipei (tai) 'Maestro' up to 32 13 - 19 January [30 Sep] Singapore (sing) 'SIPC' 16-32 21 - 26 January [ 6 Dec] Adana (tur) ' Adana Rhapsody' [5 age cat.] 22-26 + Y 23 - 31 January [20 Dec] Thessaloniki (gr) ' Giorgos Thymis' up to 30 February/May [10 Mar] Hong Kong (hk) 'Intellectuals' [cat.] None +Y February/May [30 Apr] Silicon Valley (CA, usa) 'Open Doors' [cat.] 20 and up +Y 2 - 6 February [ 4 Jan] Hong Kong (hk) 'HK IMCA' [various cat.] all ages +Y 6 - 9 February [12 Nov] Hong Kong (hk) 'HKYPAF' [63 cat.] all ages + Y 7 - 9 February [25 Nov] Pontoise (f) 'Piano Campus' 16-25 8 - 15 February [24 Sep] Graz (a) 'Schubert & Mod.' [Pi Duo/Ch. Mus.] up to 35 10 - 15 February [ 1 Jan] Casablanca (mrc) 'OPM' 16-30 15 - 23 February [20 Dec] Grosseto (it) 'Scriabin' up to 36 18 - 22 February [20 Nov] Düsseldorf (frg) 'Schumann' [3 age cat.] 18-20 + Y 26 Feb. - 9 Mar [15 Nov] Amsterdam (hol) 'YPF - Youri Egorov' up to 27 2 - 9 March [ 1 Dec] Sofia (bul) 'Pancho Vladigerov' up to 32 7 - 9 March [ 1 Feb] Fribourg (ch) [5 age cat.] up to 21 + Y 7 - 15 March [15 Nov] Århus (dan) [2 age cat.] 16-21 + Y 9 March [30 Nov] Bern (ch) 'Prix du Piano' 16-30 10 - 17 March [30 Sep] Hilton Head (SC, usa) 18-30 12 - 16 March [ 1 Feb] Hartford (CT, usa) 'Chopin' [4 age cat.] all ages + Y 21 - 23 March [11 Jan] Kronberg (frg) [7 age cat.] 18-19 + Y 21 - 30 March [30 Nov] Epinal (f) 16-30 22 - 30 March [17 Nov] Dortmund (frg) 'Schubert' up to 33 22 Mar. - 3 Apr. [13 Dec] Barcelona (esp) 'Maria Canals' 17-29 27 - 30 March [31 Dec] Lugano (ch) ' Jeune Chopin' [3 age cat.] up to 18 + Y 31 Mar. - 4 Apr. [10 Mar] Lamporecchio (it) 'Schumann / Rospigliosi' None March/May [16 Mar] Orbetello (it) 'Orbetello Online' [9 age cat.] 23-35 + Y 5 - 12 April [16 Mar] Trapani (it) 'Domenico Scarlatti' [+4 age cat.] 20-37 + Y 7 - 12 April [10 Feb] Viseu (prt) [2 age cat.] up to 30 +Y 9 - 13 April [ 1 Mar] Brussels (b) 'Merci, Maestro!' [6 age cat.] 23-25 + Y 10 - 13 April [ 4 Feb] Orléans (f) 'Brin d’Herbe' [3 cat.] up to 18 Y 10 - 13 April [ 1 Mar] Mayenne (f) up to 33 11 - 21 April [15 Nov] Palm Springs (CA, usa) 'PSIPC' 13-18 Y 18 - 22 April [15 Mar] Vigo (esp) None 24 - 27 April [ 1 Apr] Zemun (serb) [7 age cat.] up to 22 + Y [Appl.]
Alink-Argerich Foundation 2025
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