2nd Paul Badura-Skoda International Piano Competition, Vila-seca, Spain

[concursbaduraskoda]

Dear Friends,

After the success of the first edition, we have the pleasure to inform you that the second edition of the Paul Badura-Skoda International Piano Competition will take place from September 10-16, 2012. The competition will be held in the Auditori Josep Carreras, Vila-seca (Tarragona), Spain.

The legendary Maestro Paul Badura-Skoda will be presiding a jury of internationally recognized pianists and pedagogues. The rules, program and application forms can be found on our website: www.concursbaduraskoda.com

Please don't hesitate to contact us with any further questions you may have. Our email address is:

concursbaduraskoda@gmail.com

We are looking forward to having you as a participant in this great event. We would be very grateful if you accept to spread this information among as many interested young pianists you may know.

With kind regards,

Pierre Réach (artistic director)
Karst de Jong (general director)

[m1469]

First order of business ... *checks age limits* ...

[m1469]

*BOOM* stops right there.

[thalbergmad]

Why 32 I wonder.

If one has not "made it" by then, perhaps it is already too late.

Anyway, 14 years too late for me.

Thal

[m1469]

If one has not "made it" by then, perhaps it is already too late.


Thal

Yeah, perhaps so  :- .

Mayl

[concursbaduraskoda]

We're sorry, the line has to be drawn somewhere... 32 is not even that bad compared to other competitions. Anyway thanks for your interest! Please pass on the information to your younger friends and colleauges who might be interested,

Very best wishes,

competition organization

[m1469]

Please pass on the information to your younger friends and colleauges who might be interested

No, I'm sorry, I won't.  My lines have to be drawn somewhere.  Why in the world would I support or encourage my many students, and other friends and acquaintances, to participate in and support something (or ever aim at doing so) that does not openly support and promote lifetime musicians in general, pure art, and music-making?  Supposedly the very things the "music world" declares it promotes, and as what students are "supposed" to be gaining from the study of music.

[pianowolfi]

Well if I dye my hair and lose 10 more kilos then it could work 

[m1469]

Also, Mr/Mrs competition organization,

I have something for you to spread around, if you'd just go ahead and be a dear and do that for me.  Thank you.

Please share this:

and this:

&feature=relmfu

With more open-minded and mature colleagues.

And also incorporate into your sharing that this person didn't take formal lessons until she was 22/23 yrs old and in University, studying music.  

[iratior]

Age discrimination is a pain.  One wonders what numerological significance was attached to age 32's being the cutoff point.  I mean, are they sure it shouldn't be age 33 or 31?  Why 32?  Oh, maybe they don't like mild winter weather and thought that if everyone was less than 32 years old, it would encourage the temperature to be less than 32 degrees next winter.  And why pick on the performers to be less than an arbitrarily set age?  Why not an age cutoff point for the jurors?

[m1469]

Yes, in fact, I think the obvious and ideal age range for competent jurors (and teachers, for that matter), those who really know art, music, the craft of piano playing, the literature and human experience inside and out and are the only people capable of deep musical insight, should be 18-25.  That's the obvious window of ripe musical genius, ability, discernment and wise scrutiny.

[thalbergmad]

Well if I dye my hair and lose 10 more kilos then it could work 

Hmmm, might need plastic surgery.

Thal

[pianowolfi]

Lolz @ both!

Ohhh how much I love a bit of fun! 

[goldentone]

Well if I dye my hair and lose 10 more kilos then it could work 

Or that wig, Wolfi, might sufficiently disguise you.

[goldentone]

Yes, in fact, I think the obvious and ideal age range for competent jurors (and teachers, for that matter), those who really know art, music, the craft of piano playing, the literature and human experience inside and out and are the only people capable of deep musical insight, should be 18-25.  That's the obvious window of ripe musical genius, ability, discernment and wise scrutiny.

Indeed, everything starts going after 25.

[littletune]

No, I'm sorry, I won't.  My lines have to be drawn somewhere.  Why in the world would I support or encourage my many students, and other friends and acquaintances, to participate in and support something (or ever aim at doing so) that does not openly support and promote lifetime musicians in general, pure art, and music-making?  Supposedly the very things the "music world" declares it promotes, and as what students are "supposed" to be gaining from the study of music.

Yeah you tell them m1469!!!!!  


@the competition organization person: I don't understand why does the line HAVE to be drawn?   what would happen if it wasn't?   the world would end or something? and why does it have to be drawn for the age 32? what if it was drawn for how tall someone is or how much someone weighs? or how large someone's hands are? or what color someone's eyes are??? can't you people see how stupid that is?? I mean I'm a kid and I see it, how can you not?   and there's no lower age limit? so you would rather see a newborn baby play piano in your competition than someone who just turned 33? and what if someone was like born two months too early? and they're really younger than someone who was born one month later?   it's just some stupid numbers that don't tell you anything about a person, don't you know that people? And you can be REALLY sorry you don't let m1469 be in your competition! or some other people from Pianostreet who are over 32!       This kinds of things should be against the law!!!!!!!!! And I know it's like that at other competitions too, but that doesn't mean you have to make the same stupid rules too right, you can think with your own head can't you? oh probably you can't that's why you do it the way everyone else is doing it!   you should be ashamed you competition rules people!!! You don't have a right to tell someone they can't be in your competition just cause they're a few months or years older than you decide they should be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the only thing you are supposed to do is judge their playing not their age!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      

[m1469]

Well, my responses aren't as much about me as it may seem  .  There are loads of gifted people for them to feast upon without somebody like me there!  On one hand, you can say they have a right to put age limitations on their own competition, but then again you see lots of other stipulations that a competition or festival or whatnot does not discriminate against race, ethnicity, and gender ... for some reason age is A-OK to be discriminant about though.  It wouldn't be such a big deal if there were more balance in the music world and if there were structures set up in support of lifetime, high-level musicianship, but there's not.  There's more than there used to be, as far as I understand it, but there's still a huge gap in what is considered a reason to celebrate  .

Why should I support something like that, though, when they wouldn't support "my" cause?  Why would they wish to spread around those links I posted?  Why would I wish to spread around theirs?  If the common ground were music, I guess that would be another story.  

Yes, you could say that I should want to support my students' growth and endeavors and I do want that.  But a part of that is in being mindful of what types of messages are being sent to them throughout their musical growth and development.  I think it's pretty early on that people find themselves feeling like they are inches away from "missing the boat" and once that becomes the primary motivation, it's tough to be musical.

[m1469]

Indeed, everything starts going after 25.

True in all cases except the supreme state of being capable of judging others ... that only gets more supreme as time goes by  .  But really, I honestly think a seasoned musician would scoff at the idea of an 18 year old judging (or how about a 6 year old?  A three year old?)... I picture this in somebody's head with a very indignant tone ... "They can't possibly possess the kind of musical maturity and insight to be capable of doing my job!" (yes, quite) ... yet, the worldwide message is currently the younger the pianist, the more technically advanced, the better.  That age group is treated as the supreme pianists in terms of performance, yet in a slightly different setting, I think they aren't considered as capable of possessing the qualities I mentioned above to the same degree as somebody more seasoned (there are exceptions, of course) - and, at least in my opinion, all of those qualities are important in being an artist.  If that's not the intention, then it seems "they" aren't achieving what they intend ... or else they are intending something else entirely (or else they just don't care what they intend).  

In any case ... *back to Appassionata for me*

[pytheamateur]

The Trinity College piano professor Philip Fowke thinks we should have a piano competition for middle-aged amateurs.

If you want "age discrimination" the other way around, why not enter the Pianist Magazine's Amateur Piano Competition?  You have to be at least 30 to apply.
You can't be a professional pianist (including teacher of grade 1 students), but you can take lessons with teachers from conservatoires.  For example, the last winner of that competition, Dominic Piers Smith studied with the famous Christopher Elton (teacher of Benjamin Grosvenor and Freddy Kempff, amongst others) and his wife.

Deadline for posting recordings is 1 May 2012.

[db05]

And also incorporate into your sharing that this person didn't take formal lessons until she was 22/23 yrs old and in University, studying music.  

I am surprised to hear this. First, that person seems to have known music all her life. Second, she looks only a few years over 23.

Then again I am not surprised about the age discrimination in competitions. If it were a free-for-all, then a lot more people would enter and make preparations a hassle. Age is easier to discriminate with rather than nationality, race, or gender. You could whittle down the numbers without killing the diversity of players in the sense that there will be male and female, different nationalities, etc.

Everything is for the sake of narrowing down. Not necessarily finding out who plays best, who sounds good. The purpose of the competition is simply to limit the number of competitors. You could take it further and question competitions in general. There are many other works, and other piano composers than Chopin and Beethoven. So why these pieces in particular? If a pianist comes in who is excellent with Bach, Mozart and/or Rachmaninoff, but not as good with Chopin and/or Beethoven, he will lose! But he's really good (at least I imagine him to be)! Isn't that awful?!?!

I think getting younger judges is a novel and interesting idea! If the contestants are young but the judges are also young, there might be more rapport. And perhaps they would go for a "fresher" sound. Discrimination or not, I would be more comfortable being criticized by my peers than 50 to 80-something old men.

I'm gonna stop right here because complaining doesn't help anything. If you fit in the requirements, great, have a go at competitions. It's good for experience and it's not going to kill you.

[quantum]

I think there is a difference between discrimination and narrowing down competitors.  The latter can be done using by measure of musical skill, technical skill at the instrument, and cognitive ability. 

[pytheamateur]

Yes, I don't understand why competition between professional pianists have to stop at around age 30, if you have to run competitions at all, that is.

Well, atheletes competiting at the Olympics are also young, but they actually compete until the end of their professional career.  It's just that they retire early.

If concert pianists still play in their seventies, why can't we have competitions for them all along their career?  It will be interesting to see how their career has developed over the years.

It would be interesting to see Ashkenazy competing against Barenboim today, for example.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Yes, I don't understand why competition between professional pianists have to stop at around age 30, if you have to run competitions at all, that is.

Well, atheletes competiting at the Olympics are also young, but they actually compete until the end of their professional career.  It's just that they retire early.

If concert pianists still play in their seventies, why can't we have competitions for them all along their career?  It will be interesting to see how their career has developed over the years.

It would be interesting to see Ashkenazy competing against Barenboim today, for example.

I think the point is that piano competitions are a mechanism whereby promising young pianists can attempt to make a name for themselves. Any age limit is of course arbitrary (and the original poster is right in saying that 32 is a high limit - I'm fairly sure the age limit for the Chopin competition is 25) but I suppose there comes a point where a pianist is deemed sufficiently old that their career should either be formed, or they sink into obscurity. I'm not agreeing with all of this of course; music should be a timeless and ageless activity. I don't even particularly agree with with the idea of competition in music as the merits of true artistry should be apparent by their presence whilst not necessarily being tangibly quantifiable and assessable.