- 22 pianists from 11 countries ready to compete starting on December 4
- Winner to be selected from three finalists on December 12
- Live Stream of all competitions on www.beethoven-competition.de
On Friday, December 4th the curtain will go up on the first round of the International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2015 – a year that marks the 10th anniversary of the international piano competition. Competitors were selected from a field of 95 applicants by Professor Pavel Gililov, President and Artistic Director of the competition and chairman of the jury, along with Professor Andreas Frölich and Professor Jacob Leuschner, both instructors at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, one of Europe’s leading universities in the field of music and performing arts. The selection committee narrowed the field down to 22 young pianists, who will now face off in Beethoven’s birth city.
The field consists of seven women and fifteen men between the ages of 18 and 32 from a total of 11 different countries: Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, Germany, Italy Japan, Russia, South Korea, Sweden and the USA. Starting on December 4, the young pianists will match musical wits in three rounds of competition before the final on December 12. The musical programme will focus on the musical work of Ludwig van Beethoven. In each round of the competition, Beethoven’s work will be set against a different period in music history: first the Baroque era, then German Romanticism, followed by classical modern. In the final round, the remaining three contestants will interpret a Beethoven piano concerto or the piano version of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, accompanied by the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under the direction of Stefan Blunier.
The competition winner will receive €30,000, the second-place finisher €20,000 and the third-place finisher €10,000 in prize money. Two additional prizes will be awarded for semi-final performances: the jury will award the Special Prize for Chamber Music and the audience – including both “live” and online listeners – will vote for the winner of the Beethoven-Haus Prize (€1,000). During the final round, the live audience will also vote for the Best Interpretation of a piano concerto in the final – a prize worth €3,000.
Two of the prize winners will also have the chance to perform again in Bonn. The winner of the International Telekom Beethoven Competition will perform in the Beethovenhalle Bonn as part of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn’s “BeethovenNacht” concert on December 16, while the winner of the Beethoven-Haus Prize will perform in the Beethoven Haus on December 13.
The International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2015 will kick off with a Welcome Concert on December 3 at 8:00 pm at Deutsche Telekom headquarters. This opening event will include an introduction to the 22 pianists competing in this year’s competition as well as a concert by Jingge Yan, winner of the International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2011.
Tickets for the Welcome Concert can be purchased with Bonnticket for €9 (regular price) or €4.50 (discount price). Tickets are also still available for the final on December 12 at 7:00 pm in the Beethovenhalle. These cost €29, €22 or €15 (full price) and €15.50, €11 or €7 (discounted price) plus a 10% advance booking fee.
Participants in the International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2015