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The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
competition held every four years in Moscow and
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of age. The competition is named after Russian composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
. It was a member of the
World Federation of International Music Competitions The World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) is an organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that maintains a network of the internationally recognized organisations that aim to discover the most promising young talents in classi ...
until April 2022, when it was excluded due to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
. The International Tchaikovsky Competition was the first international music competition held in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. For the XIV competition in 2011,
Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, ; os, Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, Gergity Abisaly fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company d ...
was appointed the competition's chairman, and Richard Rodzinski, former president of the
Van Cliburn Foundation {{refimprove, date=October 2018 The Van Cliburn Foundation presents the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition, the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival, ''Musical Awakenings'' educ ...
, was appointed general director. A new
voting system An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections m ...
was instituted, created by mathematician John MacBain, and used by the
International Violin Competition of Indianapolis The International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (IVCI) is a Classical music, classical violin competition which takes place once every four years in Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana. Since its founding in 1982, "The Indianapolis" has bee ...
, the
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the c ...
, and the
Cleveland International Piano Competition The Cleveland International Piano Competition is an American piano competition that takes place biennially in Cleveland, Ohio. The initial Competition in 1975 and the nine others that followed were sponsored jointly by the Robert Casadesus Society ...
. All rules and regulations also underwent a complete revision. Emphasis was placed on the composition of the jury, which consisted primarily of well-known and respected performing artists. The XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition was held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, from 14 June to 1 July 2011, under the auspices of the Russian federal government and its Ministry of Culture. The competition disciplines were piano, violin, cello, and voice (male singers and female singers). The XV competition took place in June 2015. The XVI competition took place 17–29 June 2019, in Moscow and St. Petersburg; woodwind and brass competition disciplines were added.


Prizes

Cash prizes are awarded to the top-five competitors in each discipline of piano, violin, cello, and to each of the top four competitors in the men's and women's solo vocal categories. First prize (not always awarded) is US$30,000; second, US$20,000; third, US$10,000; fourth, US$5,000; and fifth, US$3,000. An additional prize, a Grand Prix of US$100,000, may be awarded to one of the gold medalists deemed outstanding by the juries. Additional awards are given for best performance of the chamber concertos and the commissioned new work. For the 2019 competition, the prizes are as follows:


History

Held every four years, the first competition, in 1958, included two disciplines: piano and violin. Beginning with the second competition, in 1962, a cello category was added, and the vocal division was introduced during the third competition in 1966. In 1990, a fifth discipline was announced for the IX International Tchaikovsky Competition: a contest for violin makers, which traditionally comes before the main competition. In 2019, two new categories were added to the competition, woodwinds and brass.


Tianxu An incident

On 25 June 2019, at the final round of the piano category, Chinese competitor Tianxu An was supposed to play Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 followed by Rachmaninoff's ''
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini The ''Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini'', Op. 43, (russian: Рапсодия на тему Паганини, ''Rapsodiya na temu Paganini'') is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano and orchestra, closely resembling a piano ...
''. However, the scores on the orchestra's and conductor's stands were placed in reversed order and the Rachmaninoff piece was announced first, different from what the pianist requested. Since An didn't understand Russian, he was unaware of the situation. With the piano entry in the Rachmaninoff almost immediate, the performance "began with a failure". Following the incident, jury chair Denis Matsuev invited him to perform the program again, but An declined. The competition made an official apology and the orchestra administration suspended the responsible staff after the event. An was eventually awarded a "special prize" for his confidence and courage.


Excluded from World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC)

On 19 April 2022, World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) decided with an overwhelming majority of member votes to exclude the International Tchaikovsky Competition from its membership with immediate effect due to "Russia´s brutal war and humanitarian atrocities in Ukraine".


Prize winners

Winners of the prizes and medals awarded in the given year and category.


Piano


Violin


Cello


Vocal, female


Vocal, male


Woodwinds


Brass


Grand Prix


See also

*
International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
*
List of classical music competitions European Classical music has long relied on music competitions to provide a public forum that identifies the strongest players and contributes to the establishment of their professional careers. This is a list of current competitions in classica ...
*
World Federation of International Music Competitions The World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) is an organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that maintains a network of the internationally recognized organisations that aim to discover the most promising young talents in classi ...
*
Critics' Prize (Tchaikovsky Competition) The Critics' Prize (sometimes called Critics' Special Prize) of the Moscow Music Critics Association is awarded to a participant of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. It is a parallel award and is not an official part of the competition. ...


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Quadrennial events Recurring events established in 1958 1958 establishments in Russia