art. 1
Participation in the Competition constitutes acceptance by the contestant of all rules and regulations. Failure to comply with the rules or conditions of participation may result in the candidate’s disqualification, without the right of appeal. Competition officials reserve the right to request additional information from any candidate.
art. 2
The competition runs into three stages: Preliminary, Semi-Final & Final rounds for both Categories A & B.
art. 3
The Semi-Final & Final for Category A & B is open to the public.
art. 4
The order of appearance of the selected competitors in the semi-final will be determined by a drawing of lots, which will take place at the Ateneo de Madrid. If, for a valid reason, a competitor is unable to be present for the drawing of lots, a member of the Competition staff will be enlisted to draw on the competitor’s behalf. A competitor who is unable to perform at the designated time will be disqualified, unless his or her absence can be justified in advance to the Competition officials, who may, at their discretion, choose to modify the order of appearance of competitors.
art. 5
All pieces must be played by heart. Candidates may perform their program with or without repeats, as long as the total length of the program remains within the prescribed playing time. The jury reserves the right to stop the candidate if the performance exceeds the time limit.
art. 6
Each candidate will have the possibility of practicing at the facilities of Escuela Superior Musical Arts and test the piano on the main stage of the competition before the Semi-Final and the Final. The planning of practice in the main piano will respect the order of the draw. Candidates will have the possibility of using a warm-up upright pianos before playing for the Semi-Final or Final at the Ateneo de Madrid.
art. 7
In making its decisions, the jury will take into account the difficulty and the balanced construction of the programmes, the technical command of the instrument, and the artistic personality of the candidate. Semi-final competitors who do not advance to the final round might have the opportunity to meet with members of the jury to discuss their performance.
art. 8
Competitors must agree to be free of all other professional activities during the entire duration of the Competition.
art. 9
Competitors are required to make themselves available for all interviews, videos, and/or promotional meetings relating to the Competition.
art. 10
All prize winners are obliged to perform at the prize winners' ceremony.
art. 11
A letter of invitation from the competition may be provided to successful applicants in need of a visa.
art. 12
The Madrid International Piano Competition will disqualify any candidate who has not paid his or her application participation fee.
art. 13
Only the winners of the three main prizes can describe themselves as laureates of the Madrid International Piano Competition.
art. 14
Candidates who study regularly (except for Masterclasses, Summer Academies, etc.) with one of our jury members at the time of the competition are not allowed to participate in the Madrid International Piano Competition. In the case of former pupils, the teaching activities must have ended at least one year before the competition starts.
art. 15
Participants must pay for their hotel and travel costs themselves.
art. 16
This document was originally drafted in English. In case of dispute, the only text of legal value is the original English text. Competition officials reserve the right to modify the text of this document at any time.
The competition will take place in 3 different rounds for both categories:
The preliminary round will consist on a screening process in which videos sent by the participants will be evaluated by the preliminary round jury.
The videos sent with the application must commit to the following guidelines. You can also download the technical guidelines document that may help you orientate on how to make a proper video for the competition in the link below.
CATEGORY A · PRELIMINARY ROUND
A 20 to 30 (Max.) minutes program high-quality video on YouTube online shall contain the following pieces:
• One Etude from Chopin from op. 10, nos. 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 or op. 25, nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12.
or Liszt“Waldesrauschen”,” Gnomenreigen”, ”La leggierezza”, ”Un sospiro”, or any etudes from Debussy, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, or Stravinsky.
• One movement from a classical sonata by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven.
• One or more works or single movements from the Baroque period up to the present.
CATEGORY B · PRELIMINARY ROUND
A 20 to 40 minutes (Max.) program high-quality video on YouTube online shall contain the following pieces:
• One Etude from Chopin, Debussy, Ligeti, Liszt, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, or Stravinsky
• A free program
VIDEO REGULATIONS
v. art. 1
For all candidates entering, only one YouTube video should be submitted for the whole programme.
v. art. 2
The full name of the candidate must be included in the Title box and the exact details of the pieces played in the Description box (Name of the piece, Op. number, Composer, and the exact timing when each piece, movement starting at).
v. art. 3
Online videos must have been realized within the last 12 months from the application deadline date. The candidate’s profile and hands must be always clearly visible on the screen; the camera angle must be fixed, and the microphones should be positioned to obtain a good sound quality. The jury reserves the right to disqualify a candidate who submits a video with poor sound quality.
v. art. 4
The candidate will have the right to choose the order of the pieces in his or her program for each round.
v. art. 5
All video submissions (i.e. a single link) must be uploaded directly to YouTube where the video can be streamed online without having to download it. Other formats will not be accepted.
v. art. 6
Please make sure that the video is either public or unlisted before submitting your application and must remain so for the entire duration of the competition.
v. art. 7
Video files should not be sent with services such as WeTransfer or similar. DVD submissions will not be accepted.
v. art. 8
Videos must not contain any cuts or edits.
v. art. 9
Videos must feature one camera angle, in which the whole silhouette of the pianist is visible, including hands and feet.
v. art. 10
All works must be performed from memory. Competitors can choose whether or not to observe repeats, as long as the time limit is not exceeded.
v. art. 11
Competitors must forfeit all recording, broadcasting, and distribution rights of any kind to the Madrid International Piano Competition, together with all artists’ resale rights, for an unlimited period. By completing the official entry form, candidates agree to release all rights regarding the future use of recordings of their performance(s).
The selected candidates to participate in the Semi-Final round (in both categories) will perform a 25-minute max. free program, including a virtuoso etude chosen from the preselection round, live in front of an audience at the Ateneo de Madridfeaturing several pieces from different and contrasting styles and periods.
At the end of the Semi-Final, the jury will select 6 Finalists Cat A. & 6 Finalists CAT B. for the Final that will take place on Saturday, September 23rd, 2023, at the Ateneo de Madrid.
The results will be announced in the concert hall right after the jury’s deliberation and will be published online on the competition’s website.
The semi-final round will be live-streamed through the competition's media channels.
CATEGORY A · SEMI-FINAL ROUND
The Semi-Finalists Cat. A (born between 2007 and 2013) will play on Friday 22nd September 2023 at the Ateneo de Madrid.
CATEGORY B · SEMI-FINAL ROUND
The Semi-Finalists Cat. B (born between 1995 and 2014) will play on Thursday 21st September 2023 at the Ateneo de Madrid.
The finalists of both categories A and B will perform Saturday 23rd September 2023 at the Ateneo de Madrid.
CATEGORY A · FINAL ROUND
Pianists from Cat. A who reach the final will perform a 25-minute Max. free program in front of an audience at the Ateneo de Madrid and streamed live online, featuring several pieces from different and contrasting styles and periods. There will be an Audience Prize. The results of the Prizes will be announced after the jury’s deliberation and will be online on the competition’s website.
Important: Pieces from the Preliminary round program (videos) can be repeated in the program of the Semi-Final or the Final round, but the program should be different in both rounds. The total of playing should not exceed 25 minutes for both the Final and Semi-Final. The jury will be forced to interrupt the performance of the candidate if the performance exceeds 25 mins. Make sure to write down in your application the exact timing of the pieces you want to play in the Semi-Final and Final to not have this disagreement happen.
CATEGORY B · FINAL ROUND
Pianists from Cat. B who reach the final will perform a 40-minute Max. free program in front of an audience at the Ateneo de Madrid and streamed live online, featuring several pieces from different and contrasting styles and periods. There will be an Audience Prize. The results of the Prizes will be announced after the jury’s deliberation and will be online on the competition’s website.
Important: Pieces from the Preliminary round program (videos) can be repeated in the program of the Semi-Final or the Final round, but the program should be different in both rounds. The total of playing should not exceed 25 minutes for the Semi-Final and 40 minutes for the Final. The jury will be forced to interrupt the performance of the candidate if the performance exceeds 25 minutes for the Semi-Final and 40 minutes for the Final. Make sure to write down in your application the exact timing of the pieces you want to play in the Semi-Final and Final to not have this disagreement happen.
