a bit of advise in competition repertoire please

[vestal86]

Hi, I'm planning to apply for some competitions in the years to come, I've never participated in any before, most of them have basically the same options to choose, i.e. any Beethoven sonata or any Chopin etude or any WTC prelude & fugue. I´m aware that I should pick pieces that show my skills and musicianship, I do consider Beethoven's Waldstein, or Les adieux, or op 10 no. 3 but I'm having touble deciding, Waldstein is a tours de force and so beautiful, the other options are of course as beautiful and demanding but are lesser known works and could be considered more "academic". I wonder what is more advisable to choose? from a judge's point of view.

Thanks, best regards.

[49410enrique]

now before i type anything, where seasoned competion veterarns, previous judges, etc. see that  i am wrong, by all means correct me, i'm just trying to help the op with a thinking process, not choose their repertoire.

generally you should choose the work you like most. i think this sets you up to be able to practice with the most discipline and work hardest towards refining the pieces and enjoying the process of getting it there and ultimately performing it.

the above statement is said w the understanding you have already narrowed your choices to those within the written guidelines for the competion.

now what do you about about being 'competitive' in terms of strategy of picking a work? you can further filter your inital list by looking at the trending data, that is, have a look at the previous 5-10 years (of if  a new competition, just waht is available, or if it is the first year then have a look at similar competitions perhaps look for ones with the same judges on their panels in the past), you want to make sure you are at least in the same neightborhood of musical depth and technical difficulty of those in the final rounds (note i didn't say just look at who won, obviously consider that, but also look to see who almost won too! sometimes those people may justhave had an 'off day' and on another day may have beaten the winnder of that particular competition).

also you will need to be very honest with yourself about your current ability, you need to make sure as you do this that you are considering works that you are CONFIDENT you can navigate musically and technically. do you have experience and a track record of excellence with that composer or the style? or perhaps a compose's 'period' i.e. sets of works from a particular time (with your example later Beethoven piano sonatas being much more domanding than some earlier ones), etc.  you want to present your current best, not the 'best you would like be someday' on competion day. save that stuff for study in between comps. better to show up on game day and own your pieces, kick ass and take names and just plain nail your performances of a percieved 'easier work' than to give a 'flat at best' so so attempt and something you thought would 'win'. 
were it me looking for comp repertorie these are the types of questions i'd be asking. i think if you think through these and discuss it with a teacher (if you have one), then you should eventually arrive at the right work for you at this time