The Long–Thibaud–Crespin Competition is an international classical music competition for pianists, violinists and singers that has been held in France since 1943. (A Jacques Thibaud Competition was held the year before in Bordeaux: Jacques Thibaud chaired the jury and the First Prize was awarded to Jacques Dejean.) It was created by the pianist Marguerite Long and the violinist

Jacques Thibaud Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French violinist. Biography Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won th ...

. Thibaud died in 1953, Long in 1966. Until 2011 it included only pianists and violinists and was known as the Marguerite Long–Jacques Thibaud Competition. That year, in honour of the French soprano

Régine Crespin Régine Crespin (23 February 1927 – 5 July 2007) was a French singer who had a major international career in opera and on the concert stage between 1950 and 1989. She started her career singing roles in the dramatic soprano and spinto sopran ...

(1927–2007), it was expanded to include singers, and renamed.

Frequency

The competition was initially triennial, but from 1949 it was held biennially. In 1980, it was split into two contests, where pianists compete only against other pianists, and violinists only against other violinists. Previously, violinists and pianists had competed against each other. That year, it reverted to a triennial competition. In 2007, it became biennial once more, and in 2011, under its new name, it became triennial again.

Juries

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

headed the violin jury from 1993 till his death in 1999. The president of the violin jury is currently

Salvatore Accardo Salvatore Accardo (; Knight Grand Cross born 26 September 1941 in Turin, northern Italy) is an Italian violinist and conductor, who is known for his interpretations of the works of Niccolò Paganini. Accardo owns one Stradivarius violin, t ...

. Aldo Ciccolini headed the piano jury in 2007.

Winners

The winners in the inaugural contest (1943) were

Samson François Samson Pascal François (18 May 192422 October 1970) was a French pianist and composer. Biography François was born in Frankfurt where his father worked at the French consulate. His mother, Rose, named him Samson, for strength, and Pascal, for ...

(piano) and

Michèle Auclair Michèle Auclair (Paris, 16 November 1924 – Paris, 10 June 2005) was a French violinist and teacher. Michèle Auclair was born into a family with sense for arts and culture. Her first teacher was Line Talluel and later, at the Conservatoire de ...

(violin). Other notable prize winners include: Paul Badura-Skoda,

Kristóf Baráti Kristóf Baráti (born 1979) is a Hungarian classical violinist. Early life Baráti was born into a musical family in Budapest in 1979. His mother played the violin and his father was a cellist. He received his first violin instruction from ...

, Dmitri Bashkirov,

Anshel Brusilow Anshel Brusilow (August 14, 1928 – January 15, 2018) was an American violinist, conductor, and music educator at the collegiate level. Early life and education Brusilow was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1928, the son of Ukrainian Jewish ...

, Joaquin Achucarro, Alexandre Brussilovsky, Stanislav Bunin, Olivier Cazal, Jean-Philippe Collard,

Youri Egorov Youri Aleksandrovich Egorov (russian: Юрий Александрович Егоров; 28 May 1954 – 16 April 1988) was a Soviet and Monegasque classical pianist. Early years Born in Kazan, USSR, Youri Egorov studied music at the Kazan Conser ...

Arnold Eidus Arnold Eidus (28 November 1922 – 3 June 2013) was a concert violinist and recording artist. Life Eidus's father (Harry Eidus, 1897–1984), a Jewish immigrant from Dvinsk, Latvia, was a violinist; his mother (Sadie "Sonia" Birkenfeld, 1901 ...

, Brigitte Engerer, Philippe Entremont, Aldo Ciccolini, Victor Eresko, Devy Erlih (1955, violin),

Verda Erman Verda Erman (19 December 1944 – 21 July 2014) was a Turkish pianist. Born in Istanbul in 1944, she began her career at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory. In 1957, she was sent to study at the Conservatoire de Paris under Turkish law no. 66 ...

(1963), Vladimir Feltsman,

Christian Ferras Christian Ferras (17 June 1933 – 14 September 1982) was a French violinist. Early years Ferras was born at Le Touquet in 1933. He began studying the violin with his father. He entered the Conservatoire de Nice as a student of Charles Bistesi i ...

, Peter Frankl, Nana Jashvili, Sergey Kravchenko,

Marina Goglidze-Mdivani Marina Goglidze-Mdivani ( Georgian: მარინა გოგლიძე-მდივანი; born October 6, 1936 in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, USSR) is a Soviet and Canadian virtuoso pianist of Georgian descent. Biography Marina Goglidze- ...

Jean-Frédéric Neuburger Jean-Frédéric Neuburger (born 29 December 1986) is a French pianist, organist, and composer. His repertoire extends from Bach to Barraqué and the works of his own contemporaries. He was born in Paris on 29 December 1986. When he was eight year ...

, György Pauk,

Jorge Luis Prats Jorge Luis Prats Soca (born 3 July 1956) is a Cuban pianist living in Spain. Prats Soca was born in Camagüey. He studied piano since 1963 under Barbara Díaz Alea. In 1970, he was accepted into National Art School, from which he graduated in 1976 ...

(1976), Nelli Shkolnikova, Raphael Sobolevsky,

Vladimir Spivakov Vladimir Teodorovich Spivakov (Russian: Влади́мир Теодо́рович Спивако́в; born 12 September 1944) is a Soviet and Russian conductor and violinist best known for his work with the Moscow Virtuosi chamber orchestra. Spi ...

Gabriel Tacchino Gabriel Tacchino (4 August 1934 – 29 January 2023) was a French classical pianist and teacher. Life and career Tacchino was born in Cannes on 4 August 1934. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire from 1947 to 1953, where his teachers included ...

, Jean Ter-Merguerian, Cédric Tiberghien, Julian Trevelyan,

Tamás Vásáry Tamás Vásáry (; born 11 August 1933) is a Hungarian concert pianist and conductor. Biography and career Vásáry was born in Debrecen, Hungary, and made his stage debut at the age of 8, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in D major, K.10 ...

, Vladimir Viardo, Jean-Pierre Wallez, and

Oxana Yablonskaya Oxana Yablonskaya (russian: Оксана Михайловна Яблонская; born December 6, 1938, Moscow) is a Russian pianist who has had an active international performance career since the early 1960s. She began her career in the USSR ...

References

{{Authority control Piano competitions Violin competitions Singing competitions Music competitions in France