Yannick Nézet-Séguin
The China Conservatory of Music will present the competition with an unprecedented first prize of US$150,000
The China Conservatory of Music has announced the creation of a major new international music competition, the First China International Music Competition. Held in Beijing from May 4 to 21, 2019, the inaugural edition of the competition will be an invitational devoted to piano performance. It will consist of pianists who have been recommended by the world’s foremost international musical authorities.
The Conservatory will award a first prize of US$150,000, with second and third prizes of US$75,000 and US$30,000 respectively. In addition to winning this unprecedented purse, the gold medallist will be offered representation by two major international artist management companies; Opus 3 Artists in the United States and Armstrong Music and Arts in China. The management giants will coordinate three years of international concert tours.
The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by its music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin will perform the Final Round concert with each of the three Competition finalists.
A distinguished international jury of eleven has been assembled and includes Li-guang Wang, President of the China International Music Competition and of the China Conservatory of Music; Yoheved Kaplinsky, chairman of the jury and artistic director of the Competition; Dmitri Alexeev; and Jan Jiracek von Arnim amongst others.
Twenty outstanding competitors from around the world, ages 17 to 28, have accepted the invitation to participate in the premier event.
12 pianists in total will advance to the semi-finals and will perform an additional recital as well as collaborate in a vocal recital. The first phase of the final round will include six pianists each playing a classical concerto with a chamber orchestra, after which three finalists will be selected for the second phase of the final round to play with The Philadelphia Orchestra under Maestro Nézet-Séguin. All performances will be held at the concert hall of the China Conservatory with the exception being the Philadelphia Orchestra performance, which is due to take place at Beijing’s renowned National Centre for the Performing Arts.
Competitors and tickets will be announced in the near future.