63rd Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition

Deadline: 06/05/2020
Location: Bolzano, Italy
Disciplines: Piano
From: 06/08/2020 To: 04/09/2021
Age limit: 16-30

REGISTRATION
Pianists born between 01 January 1990 and 31 December
2004 are eligible for participation. Registration is carried out online by following the procedure indicated on the www.concorsobusoni.it website.
The registration deadline is 1 April 2020. Please note: a video recording is required. For organizational reasons, no more than 80 submitted
candidates will be accepted to the Pre-Selection phase. Previous winners of the Busoni Prize are excluded from participation. At the end of the Pre-Selection phase (06 – 11 August 2020), the international jury will select up
to 24 candidates to participate in the Finals of the competition (25 August – 04 September 2021). Each will receive a grant of € 800, which will be paid upon participation in the Finals. By 1 August 2020, candidates who have won first or second prize in a competition that is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions in the period between 1 January 2018 and 31 July 2020 may be admitted directly to the Finals of
the Busoni Competition. Should the number of suitable candidates applying for a direct participation in the competition’s finals fall short of the places available, the jury has the possibility of appointing additional candidates
from the group of those who have been playing in the Pre-Selections in 2020. In any case, the total number of participants in the final stage is limited to 27.
Each of the 80 candidates accepted to the competition must pay an entry fee of € 150 (net of bank charges), which is non-refundable if a candidate withdraws. This entry fee must be transferred to the following account:
No. 68.200, ABI 06045 – CAB 11601, Agenzia n. 1, of the
Cassa di Risparmio di Bolzano
Please note the following on the wire transfer
(copying Italian phrases exactly):
IBAN IT 79 O 06045 11601 000000068200
BIC: CRBZIT2B001
ACCOUNT HOLDER: Fondazione Ferruccio Busoni –
Gustav Mahler
PURPOSE: Iscrizione al Concorso F. Busoni di
your full name (insert your name)
Candidates participating in the competition who have won first or second prize in a competition that is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions are exempted from paying the registration fee.

CONVENING OF AND LODGING
FOR CANDIDATES
During the Pre-Selections year (2020), all candidates have free room and board, effective from the day upon which they are requested to arrive in Bolzano until the day after they perform. In the year of the Finals (2021) all
candidates have free room and board, effective from the day upon which they are asked to arrive and for as long as they remain in competition.
All rounds of the competition will take place in Bolzano-Bozen, and will be open to the public. Each candidate must report to the competition’s administrative office on the day and time appointed to them; candidates
must bring a valid ID.

An adequate number of pianos will be made available to
candidates for practicing.

NOTES TO THE MUSICAL PROGRAMMES
All pieces performed must be published works. The same piece may not be performed in different rounds. The program of the Finals must be completely different from that of the Pre-Selections.
Candidates must play from memory (except for the contemporary music repertoire and the chamber music repertoire) and make available to the jury two copies of the music for their program, prior to each performance; the music must be the same edition they use in the performance. The order of the pieces, which should be indicated on the online application form, is left to the discretion of the competitor.
In this application, the applicant must also indicate the respective duration of each piece (calculated as accurately as possible in order to ensure compliance with the total duration of the round) next to each piece listed. In addition, candidates must indicate the duration of each program, including intervals. It is preferred that all of the ritornelli are observed. Compositions with various different tempo markings or segments must be executed in their entirety. The only exceptions are those compositions that are only partially executed in normal concert practice.

MUSICAL PROGRAM FOR THE 2020
PRE-SELECTION ROUND

A maximum of 80 candidates will be admitted to the Pre-Selection round. Candidates will present a program for the Pre-Selection phase no longer than 20 minutes, as follows:
a)
One étude by F. Chopin (Op. 10 or Op. 25) or one étude by F. Liszt
b)
One étude by C. Debussy, B. Bartók (Op. 18), S. Rachmaninoff, S. Prokofiev, I. Stravinsky, A. Scriabin or G. Ligeti
c)
One or more pieces of the candidate’s choice Any changes of musical program for the Pre-Selections must reach the administrative offices by 15 June 2020

MUSICAL PROGRAM FOR THE
2021 FINALS
see section 8 of the competition rules
Semi-Finals
A maximum of 27 candidates will be admitted to the SemiFinals. Each candidate must present a program (duration:
min. 40 minutes and max. 45 minutes) as follows:
a) One of the following compositions by F. Busoni
(see note a)
• “All’Italia!” (In modo napolitano) [“To Italy!” (In a Neapolitan Mode)] BV 249
• “Meine Seele bangt und hofft zu Dir” (Choralvorspiel) [“My soul trembles and hopes of thee” (Chorale Prelude)] BV 249
• Two other Elegies BV 249
• Sonatina (No. 1) BV 257
• Sonatina Seconda BV 259
• Sonatina “In diem nativitatis Christi MCMXVII” BV 274
• Toccata: Preludio, Fantasia, and Ciaccona, BV 287
• Indianisches Tagebuch (Indian Diary) (I), n.1-2-3-4 BV 267
• Preludes, Op. 37 BV 181: a choice of 6 preludes
• Fantasie nach Johann Sebastian Bach BV 253
• 10 Variationen über ein Präludium von Chopin (Klavierübung Teil 5) BV 213a b) Other works of the candidate’s choice

Solo Finals
A maximum of 12 candidates will be admitted to the Solo Finals; each must present a program (duration: min. 55 and max. 60 minutes) as follows:
a) One of the J. S. Bach/F. Busoni transcriptions
b) A sonata by L.v. Beethoven, M. Clementi, J. Haydn or W.A.Mozart – other than the one eventually presented in the
Pre-Selection round
c)One or more piano works of contemporary music selected and indicated by the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition within the end of January 2021
d)Other works of the candidate’s own choice – except those presented in the Pre-Selection round
Chamber Ensemble Final 
A maximum of 6 candidates will be admitted to the Chamber Ensemble Final. Candidates must present one of the following quintets:
• R. Schumann Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 44
• J. Brahms Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 34
• C. Franck Quintet for Piano and Strings
• A. Dvorák Quintet for Piano and Strings No. 2, Op. 81
• D. Shostakovich Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 57

Grand Final
A maximum of 3 candidates will be admitted to the Grand Final; each must present one of the following concertos for piano and orchestra:
• W.A. Mozart Concertos for piano and orchestra: K 466, K 456, K 467, K 491, K 595, K 488
• L.v. Beethoven Concertos for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 3, 4 and 5
• B. Bartók Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 2
• F. Chopin Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 1 and 2
• M. Ravel Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G major
• S. Rachmaninoff Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 3 and 4
• S. Rachmaninoff Variations Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
• P.I. Tchaikovsky Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 1
• S. Prokofiev Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 2, 3 and 5
• F. Liszt Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 1 and 2
• C. Saint-Saëns Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Nos. 2 and 5
• R. Schumann Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 54
• A. Scriabin Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 20 Any changes in the music program for the Finals must reach the administrative offices by 15 June 2021.

PRIZES
Busoni Prize: € 22,000
The Busoni Prize may not be shared. The winner of the Busoni Prize will also receive a prize in the amount of € 5,000 named in memory of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli – provided that the Busoni Prize is unanimously awarded. Negotiations are underway for major concert engagements in Italy and abroad.
2nd Prize: € 10,000
3rd Prize: € 5,000
4th Prize: € 4,000
5th Prize: € 3,000
6th Prize: € 2,500
Other special prizes will also be announced. Taxes will be withheld from the awards as required. Upon request, Semi-Final participants who do not advance to the Finals may receive a certificate.

More details