starting late, becoming professional?

[vetgirl]

Hi guys.  I confess, I'm not a piano player, I've actually come to ask a question about my boyfriend, who is a piano student. 

He is 25 years old, and he recently started learning the piano again after a 10-year gap.  I know he really would like to be a professional pianist, and give concerts and tour and stuff.  But he's gotten really discouraged because he says that the cutoff ages for competitions are all around 30 years and he doesn't think he'll get good enough to compete before he is too old.  And apparantly without winning competitions, you can't get anywhere. 

Now to me that is ridiculous, because piano isn't like ballet or pro football, you should be able to start at any age.

So what I'm asking I guess is some words of encouragement for him.  Does anyone know of any examples of pianists who started late, or of any competitions without a cutoff age?  I don't know much about the piano, but I know my boyfriend definitely has talent.  He has learned so much in only a month, I think he can play a couple of preludes by Chopin, and he has so much passion and drive.  I'd hate to see him be unable to realize his dream because he is a late bloomer.

Thanks a lot guys.
:-),
Sarah

[quasimodo]

Hi

Sarah, you get into a controversial topic in this forum. the two following threads discuss the question :

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,6082.0.html

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,6124.0.html

The general idea is that due to prejudices, the chances are very slim for a late starter to achieve a concertist carreer but there's no proof that you couldn't reach the suitable level by starting at any age.

[quasimodo]

Let me add, if the piano-background he already has is solid, there would be no reason to think that he could not, with a consistent and organized work with a good teacher,  give atry to competition before the fatidic 30 years cut-off.

And the star and babe of contemporary classic piano, Hélène Grimaud, never won any competition...

[chromatickler]

And the star and babe of contemporary classic piano, Hélène Grimaud, never won any competition...

Although she did record rachmaninov's 2nd sonata + complete op33 etude tableaux by the time she's 15 

[pianowelsh]

You don't have to win piano competitions to make it but if you do 30 is pretty much the cut off. If you don't do competitions it helps to have a prestigious teacher who is well connected even if it only for like once a month lessons it's worth making that contact. It may well be the case that you will have to carve your own furrow a bit and go for perhaps more unusual repertory etc The piano rep is vast but the core is plyed  very well by the very young. Be different and you may have a chance but to be honest most of the youngsters who cram into colleges don't stand a chance either it's a small market crowded with talent. You need to be wise and diverse to survive in it and very able to adapt. Very Very few make a full-time living in performance and most combine it with other jobs on part time basis and teaching. Go for it though - Baucher Amateur competition is open to older pianists and i believe the F Poulenc competition but the chances do reduce with age. Work your socks off Buddy!!

[Chrysalis]

Don't let statistics stop you from doing what you like
you are never too old to learn
If your boyfriend really likes it and put effort in what he wants to achieve it is not impossible... (see the pianist richter who went to conservatory when he was 27 )