Councours Géza Anda

One of the most challenging music competitions

Top Classical, May 2021
In 1979, Hortense Anda-Buhrle, the widow of the Hungarian-Swiss pianist Géza Anda, founded the Géza Anda piano competition in Zurich to commemorate her husband. The master pianist is celebrated as a great virtuoso thanks to his very first complete recording of all of Mozart’s piano concertos, and above all as a Mozart specialist.  

For the past 39 years, the Géza Anda Piano Competition is regarded as one of the most difficult piano competitions, and indeed the candidates have an immense set of specifications to master.  Held every three years, in Zürich, it aims to promote the development of pianists from the younger generations, and to help them succeed in the music world in the spirit of Géza Anda. 

What sets this competition apart is that the Géza Anda Foundation guarantees the prizewinners a certain number of solo engagements in international music centers, and provides free concert management for three years. That way, young pianists receive support to become professional pianists and the opportunity to cultivate their careers with care. The winners of the previous Géza Anda piano competition, such as Denes Varjon, Pietro De Maria, Alexei Volodin, Varvara Nepomnyashchaya, Dasol Kim and Andrew Tyson, after winning the Zurich competition, have performed in the main concert halls of all the world, achieving great popularity and prosperity. 

At the award ceremony of the final concert of the past edition, on June 2018, the seven-member international jury awarded the first prize worth 30,000 Swiss francs to the American Chinese pianist Huang Ci, in recognition of her wonderful performance of Beethoven’s piano concerto (Ludwig van Beethoven) no. 4 in G major, op.58, conducted by Jury President Christian Zacharias in Zurich. The pianist was accompanied by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. 

The jury of the competition is generally formed by pianists, conductors and other personalities closely related to the world of music. In past editions there were also organizers and representatives of major record companies. Pianists must have, above all, a remarkable career on stage. In the 2021 jury we can find Mr. John Fiore, a very experienced conductor with a deep knowledge of the relationship between orchestra and soloist. Ye Xiaogang, an important representative of the Chinese music institutions will also be found in the jury.  

2021 is the centenary anniversary of Géza Anda, so the Géza Anda Foundation plans to carry out several events that will celebrate and commemorate the anniversary, the main one will be the fifteenth edition of one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world. The competition will be held in Zurich from May 27 to June 5, 2021.

The Liszt Competition

A gateway to the international classical music scene

Top Classical, April 2021
The Lizt competition was founded in 1986 as the triennial International Liszt Competition, held at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Since then, it has become one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions and is also known for the thorough and professional support it offers young musicians. 

What sets the Liszt Competition apart from other competitions is the extensive Career Development Programme that is offers to its winners. For a period of three years, the competition provides to the three winners:  management, professional coaching, publicity and continuous mentorship.  

The role model for the competition is the pianist and composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886).  He was not only recognized as a musician, but Liszt was a visionary: Throughout his life, he developed a large number of innovations, ranging from new performance techniques to new composition structures. Franz Liszt is responsible for establishing the way a piano recital is conducted nowadays.  

Among the laureates of the Franz Litz competition, we can find names like Enrico Pace (1989), Igor Roma (1996), Yundi Li (1999), Yingdi Sun (2005), Vitaly Pisarenko (2008), Nino Gvetadze (2008), Mariam Batsashvili (2014) and Alexander Ullman (2017). On 8 November 2014 Mariam Batsashvili became the first female First Prize winner at the 10th International Franz Liszt Piano Competition.  

The Liszt Competition is known for its bold repertoire choices, and each edition focuses on different unknown pieces.  For the 2020 edition, the competition was focused on ‘Beethoven’ as a central theme. The compulsory repertoire had to include Liszt’s transcriptions of song cycles and the symphonies of Beethoven. Unfortunately, this 12th edition had to be postponed due to the current pandemic situation. 2021 edition will be from the 12th to the 19th of September.

We can’t wait to see the virtuosity and technique of the new talented candidates that will compete in the following season. We wish them very good luck! 

The Menuhin Competition

The ‘Olympics of the Violin’

Top Classical, February 2021
The Menuhin Competition is the world’s leading international competition for young violinists, held every two years in a different city (most recently in Geneva in 2018, London in 2016, Austin TX in 2014, Beijing in 2012 and Oslo in 2010). 

Founded by Yehudi Menuhin in 1983 the Competition attracts hundreds of entries from over 40 countries, choosing only 44 of the world’s very best young violinists – 22 Juniors and 22 Seniors -to participate. The Competition discovers, encourages and nurtures exceptionally talented young musicians from all corners of the globe to develop into the next generation of great artists. 

It was founded by Yehudi Menuhin and Robert Masters, who had been instrumental in the founding of the Yehudi Menuhin School. The competition took place for the first time in 1983 at Folkestone on the south coast of England and was based there for its first 15 years. Following a three-year gap after the 1995 competition, it resumed in 1998 at Boulogne-sur-Mer  and returned to Folkestone in 2000. 

After Menuhin’s death, the pianist Gordon Back, took over the Artistic Directorship of the competition, expanding the program into a festival format expanding the competition with concerts, master classes, and education and outreach events. The competition also began moving its venue to a different international city each time. 

With the Competition itself at its heart, each edition of the Menuhin Competition presents an 11-day festival of music, education and cultural exchange. Jurors give performances during the event and competitors participate in masterclasses and consultations with the jury as well as peer to peer learning. The jury has maintained an impeccable reputation for fairness and artistic integrity. Many prizewinners such as Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Tasmin Little, Julia Fischer, Ilya Gringolts and more recently Ray Chen, Chad Hoopes and Daniel Lozakovich have gone onto successful international careers as soloists. Some are outstanding concertmasters such as Daishin Kashimoto at the Berlin Philharmonic, and others such as Corina Belcea lead world-class chamber ensembles 

The Menuhin Competition Trust strives to provide prizewinners with a variety of performance opportunities to develop their musical careers. Cash prizes are available in excess of $85,000, plus instrumental loans and performance opportunities. 

Last year, the pandemic situation has also affected Menuin’s plans. The Competition Trust and the Richmond Symphony announced that the Menuhin Competition, scheduled for May 14-24 in Richmond, Va., was being postponed one year to May 13-23, 2021. 

David Fisk, Executive Director of the Richmond Symphony said “We look forward with great anticipation to hosting the Menuhin Competition in 2021, eagerly welcoming ‘the Olympics of the Violin’ to Richmond next May instead. The city is ready, our partners are ready, and during the coming year, we’ll work to make next year’s Competition even bigger and better than before.”