59th Busoni Competition: Call for Applications

[concorsobusoni]

Call for Applications for the 59th Edition of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy

Applicants are now invited to register for the preliminary selection phase in August 2012. Forms and updated regulations are available on line in five languages; the application deadline is May 31st, 2012.

The F. Busoni Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of the 59th edition of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition. The preliminary selection phase will be held at the Claudio Monteverdi Conservatory between August 22nd and30th, 2012. An international jury will choose 24 candidates who will subsequently be invited to enter the final round of the competition in 2013. The foundation will award a total of € 60,000 in prizes; the winners will also receive offers for a variety of concert engagements. Application forms and the recently updated competition rules are available on the foundation's website at   www.concorsobusoni.it. The application deadline is May 31st, 2012.

This year will see some major changes to the rules of the competition: The number of mandatory pieces has been significantly reduced, so each candidate may choose much of the repertoire he or she performs. This will allow the young musicians to better exhibit their artistic range, express their individual personalities, and accent their strengths. In addition, the duration of each audition has been slightly reduced: participants must now limit their performance to a maximum of 20 minutes. Another change this year is that auditions will take place only in the afternoons and evenings. This will not only guarantee the highest possible level of concentration on the part of the jury, but will give all candidates a longer rehearsal period. Importantly, this additional time will include practice on the actual instrument used for the audition. Lastly, the competition will continue once again this year in its usual tradition - broken last year in celebration of Liszt’s 200th birthday - of requiring all semi-finalists to play a Mozart concerto. This component will pose an even greater challenge, though: the competition rules will require that candidates direct the orchestra themselves, just like in the days of Mozart.

As in previous years, the F. Busoni International Piano Festival will take place during the preliminary selection period of the competition. This concurrent festival will feature great names of the international piano scene, former winners of the Busoni Prize and laureates of other major competitions. Details will be announced soon.

Contact: FERRUCCIO BUSONI International Piano Competition Foundation, International Press Office: Sabine Funk funk@concorsobusoni.it

[concorsobusoni]

Update: The registration form is now active, application dead line is May 31st 2012! Rules of the competition are available in Chinese, English, German, Italian and Russian.

www.concorsobusoni.it

[lostinidlewonder]

Since this is an international forum it would be interesting if you could mention whether or not interested people can audition via recording or by visiting other universities in their area to audition (as they do with some other international competitions). I doubt many would travel just to audition.

[concorsobusoni]

Enrolments for the pre-selections for the 59th F. Busoni International Piano Competition in August 2012 at an all-time high

No fewer than 304 young pianists from all around the world have registered to participate in the 59th F. Busoni International Piano Competition, setting a new record in the competition's long history.

The strong response is particularly notable at a time when most international music competitions are suffering from a decline in enrolments due to the still-tense economic situation. The positive trend at the Busoni underlines the confidence in the reputation of the competition that was first launched in 1949. Young pianists could register online up until 31 May 2012; the revised rules of the competition were once again available in five languages. Only 150 young pianists will be admitted to the preliminary rounds taking place in Bolzano on 22 – 31 August. The selection will be made based on their curriculum.

 Italy is on top of the list this year with 66 registrations, followed by South Korea with 55, Russia with 40 and Japan with 25 applications. From Germany and Ukraine, 12 applications were entered; there were 11 from China and 10 from Taiwan. The other candidates hail from all parts of the world, confirming the broad international visibility of the institution. Further applications were entered from Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Austria, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United States, Uzbekistan and Syria. There are 138 female candidates and 166 male candidates .

The jury headed by president Ewa Kupiec (Poland) is composed of Sergej Babayan (Armenia / USA), Tong-Il Han (South Korea), Benedetto Lupo (Italy), Jan Michiels (Belgium) and Wu Ying (China). Together, they will select the 24 pianists to participate in the finals in 2013 when a total of € 60,000 will be awarded in prizes. The winners will also be offered a variety of concert engagements.

As in previous years, the F. Busoni International Piano Festival will also take place during the preliminary selection period of the competition. The festival will feature former winners of the Busoni Prize and laureates of other major competitions such as Garrick Ohlsson, Louis Lortie, Daniil Trifonov, Beatrice Rana and Michail Lifits. Other highlights of the festival include performances by Stefano Bollani, Vikingur Olafsson and Grigory Sokolov. In addition to the concerts, master pianist Alfred Brendel will give a public workshop for last year’s award winners, Anna Bulkina, Antonii Baryshevskyi and Tatiana Chernichka.

FERRUCCIO BUSONI
International Piano Competition Foundation

Press contact:

Sabine Funk
funk@concorsobusoni.it
 www.concorsobusoni.it

[pianist1976]

Oops! Too much old to participate... Anyway:

Competitions are for horses, not artists

(no offense intended). I wish you the best, and also to the 304 contestats/competitors.

[birba]

And that said by a pianist (Bartok) who came in 2nd to Backhaus in 1905 at the Rubenstein competition!

[49410enrique]

i hope you guys post the videos again on vimeo like you did in the past. i thoroughly enjoyed watching it!

[pytheamateur]

Assuming the threa is not a hoax.  I'm rather surprised to see The Busoni Competition advertising itself on this site.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are loads of great professional pianists on Pianostreet.  Nevertheless, I can't help but think that The Busoni Comeptition is getting desperate for applications.  Honestly, who can remember who the winners and finalists were for the past 10 years of this competition?  It is an annual competition, and that, in my opinion is its fatal flaw.