The 27th International Piano Competition of Epinal

Deadline: 15/02/2019
Location: Epinal, France
Disciplines: Piano
From: 22/03/2019 To: 31/03/2019
Age limit: 14-29

Rules and regulations

I – Practical organization

The 27th International Piano Competition will be held from Friday 22th to Sunday 31th March 2019, in Epinal. It is open to pianists born in or after 1989 and no later than 2004.
Registration will be closed on 2019, February 15th or earlier once the total number of registered contestants reach 100. Registration forms that are received after February 15th 2019 will not be taken in consideration.
A registration fee of 110 € (not including banking costs and not refundable) must be transferred at the moment of registration to this account :

Concours International de Piano d’Epinal
4 rue Claude Gelée – 88000 EPINAL
IBAN : FR76 1513 5005 0008 0014 6270 618
BIC : CEPAFRPP513
Domiciliation :
Caisse d’Epargne Epinal Aristide Briand
14 rue Aristide Briand
88000 Epinal

This transfer must be identified with the name of the contestant.
Contestants must register online on this page before 15 February 2019, by sending the following documents:
– copy of identity card or passport,
– curriculum vitae in french or english,
– an recent artistic photo in HD,
– receipt of the registration fee.

All changes of program must be requested by e-mail (no program changes will be accepted after 1st March 2019).

The contestants must present themselves at the Théâtre Municipal d’Epinal, rue François Blaudez, to confirm their arrival in Epinal and to officialise their participation in the competition, on Friday 22th March 2019 between 02:00 and 05:00 pm. They must present an identity card : either a passport or a national identity card. The contestants will participate in a draw to determine the playing order for the first 3 rounds.

Travel and accommodation expenses are paid for by the contestant. However, free accommodation with host families is possible exclusively for the contestant, if requested at the moment of registration and according to availability.

The contestants who have requested accommodation with host families and who will arrive before 22th March, must notify the competition office (familles.cipe@gmail.com) as well as the host family as soon as possible.

A practice piano will be made available in the homes of the host families or at the Conservatory. Each contestant will be allowed to play the competition piano for 5 minutes, upon completion of their registration on Friday 22th March, from 02:00 pm

II – The Competition details

The competition consists of 4 rounds which are open to the public. The first 3 rounds are eliminatory. The first round will take place from Saturday, 23th March through Monday, 25th March ; the second round will take place on Tuesday, 26th March and Wednesday, 27th March, and the semi-final round will take place on Friday, 29th March. At the end of the semi-final round, the jury will choose 4 finalists. A rehearsal with the accompanying Orchestra is scheduled for the finalists on Saturday, 30th March. The final round will take place on Sunday, 31th March 2019.

The Jury is composed of 7 international personalities from the music world. The President of the Jury holds the deciding vote, should there be an equal number of votes. The Jury’s decisions cannot be questioned or appealed.

The Jury may interrupt the performance of a work in cases where the contestant’s playing is clearly insufficient, or if the time limit has been exceeded.

III – Prizes

1st Grand Prize of the Ville d’Épinal : 7000€
2nd Prize of the Conseil Départemental des Vosges : 3000€
3rd Prize of the Conseil Régional Grand Est : 1500€
4th Prize of the Caisse d’Épargne : 1000€

Additional prizes will be awarded by the Jury :Contemporary Music Prizeof SACEM for the best performance of the Poème for piano, opus 5 by Elise Bertrand in the semi-final round.

Prize of “Jeunesses Musicales de France” for the best French contestant.

Audience Prize awarded by Konica Minolta, attributed by the audience for the best interpretation of the Concerto.

Prize of the best Chopin Etude awarded by Pianist Maurizio Baglini

Prize of the Best Beethoven Sonata awarded by Pianist Hie-Yon Choi

The Jury is not obliged to award all the prizes.

Winners of the competition will also have the benefit of playing at festivals such as Concerts Classiques d’EpinalRencontres Internationales de Musique de MirecourtMusique Espérance Saint-DiéMusic Conservatory of Saint-DiéFestival Bach de Toul… The engagement conditions will be directly proposed to the prizewinners. The Competition does not take part to these negotiations.

Contestants in the first and second rounds may receive a certificate attesting to their participation in the competition.

The Competition’s public rounds may be broadcast live and/or re-broadcast by radio, television or Internet. The rounds may also be recorded and/or filmed for reproduction on various formats (CD, DVD, etc.). In keeping with the Competition’s reputation, the contestants give the Competition the right to record or film a performance, to reproduce it or have it reproduced on any format and to broadcast it by any and all means throughout the world. This transfer of rights is valid for a period of 50 years from the moment of the performance.

Entering the competition entails the acceptance of its rules and procedures ; the French text stands as legal reference.

Program of the Competition

Warning: No work shall be repeated at any stage of the competition. All the pieces, with the exception of the obligatory contemporary piece, must be played from memory.

First round – Second round :

The contestant must present the following program, dividing the pieces between the first round (20’ maximum) and the second round (35’ maximum), in the order of his/her choice and within the allotted time limit. Every rounds are eliminatory :
– One prelude and fugue from “The Well-Tempered Clavier” by J.-S. Bach,
– One Etude from opus 10 or 25 by Chopin,
– One Etude by another composer,
– One work or one suite of works of the same opus from the romantic repertory of a duration of 7 to 20 minutes composed between 1828 and 1897.
– A complete Sonata by Beethoven (repeats are optional).

Semi-final: Recital (40′ minimum, 50′ maximum)

A program of the contestant’s choice including the Poème for piano, opus 5 by Elise Bertrand (commissioned by the Competition – duration : 5’ – score sent on reception of the registration form and fee), and one work of a french composer written between the 17th and 21st century

Final round: One Concerto to choose among the followings :

Beethoven : Concerto # 3 in C minor, opus 37
Chopin : Concerto # 2 in F minor, opus 21
Liszt : Concerto # 1 in E flat Major, S. 124
Mozart : Concerto # 23 in A Major, K. 488
Rachmaninov : Concerto # 1 in F # minor, opus 1
Ravel : Concerto in Sol

Calendar

Friday 15th February 2019 : Closing date for registrations

Friday 1st March 2019 : End of the permitted changes of the program


Friday 22th March 2019 :

14:00 – Théâtre Municipal d’Epinal

Registration of the contestants, Drawing of lots, Meeting with host families, and short testing of the competition’s piano

17:00 – Théâtre Municipal d’Epinal

Opening Ceremony of the Competition


FIRST ROUND :

Saturday 23th March, Sunday 24th March, Monday 25th March – Théâtre Municipal d’Epinal


SECOND ROUND :

Tuesday 26th March and Wednesday 27th March – Théâtre Municipal d’Epinal


SEMI-FINALE :

Friday 29th March – Théâtre Municipal d’Epinal


FINALE, RESULTS AND PRIZE AWARD CEREMONY :

Sunday 31th March – Auditorium de la Louvière in Epinal

Prizes and Awards

The following prizes will be awarded by the jury during the Award Ceremony :

First Grand Prize of the Ville d’Epinal 7000€
Second Prize of the Conseil Départemental des Vosges 3000€
Third Prize of the Conseil Régional Grand-Est 1500€
Fourth Prize of the Caisse d’Epargne Lorraine Champagne-Ardennes 1000€

SPECIAL PRIZES

Contemporary Prize of the SACEM 1000€
Audience Prize awarded by Konica Minolta 1000€
Prize of the Jeunesses Musicales de France 300€
Prize of the best Chopin Etude awarded by Pianist Maurizio Baglini 500€
Prize of the Best Beethoven Sonata awarded by Pianist Hie-Yon Choi 500€

ENGAGEMENTS

The laureates will also have the opportunity to get concert proposals from the following organizers:
Concerts Classiques d’Epinal,
Rencontres Internationales de Musique de Mirecourt,
Musique Espérance Saint-Dié,
Music Conservatory of Saint-Dié,
Festival Bach de Toul