International Schimmel Piano Competition
The International Schimmel Piano Competition, organized by Wilhelm Schimmel Pianofortefabrik GmbH will take place for the first time in 2020 in Braunschweig | Germany. The competition is open to professionally trained pianists aged 18 to 32 years. Besides the artistic and pianistic performance, the competition focuses on the concept of the presented concert program, curated by the participant him or herself. The concert program should follow a theme of the participant's choice.
When and Where
Public Audition
September 2021
Schimmel concert hall, Braunschweig | Germany
Award - Winner's Concert:
September 2021
Lessingtheater, Wolfenbüttel | Germany
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REGISTRATION AND PRELIMINARY ROUND
31 March - 15 July 2020
Online submissions with application video on https://www.schimmel-pianocompetition.com/en/apply.
30 September 2020
Participants will be notified of their admission to the competition via e-mail.
COMPETITION
1st Round in the Schimmel Concert Hall, Braunschweig:
Admitted participants will present a 20 to 30 minute long concert program, curated by themselves to the jury and the audience. The participants have the opportunity to explain the idea underlying their program concept at the beginning of their performance in an oral presentation of maximum 2 minutes (in German or in English).
Six participants with the highest scores will be admitted to the final competition round.
Final round in the Schimmel Concert Hall, Braunschweig:
The selected participants will present another concert program curated by themselves of 35 to 50 minutes in length. Once again, the participants have the opportunity to present the idea underlying their program's concept at the beginning of their performance in maximum 2 minutes (in German or in English).
AWARD WINNER'S CONCERT
Award-winner's concert in the Lessingtheater, Wolfenbüttel:
The three participants with the highest scores will present their program from the final round during a public award-winner's concert.
TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATION
Participants are responsible for organizing their journey to Braunschweig as well as the travel and accommodation costs. Schimmel Pianos has set aside a number of rooms ina hotel in Braunschweig, so participants can reserve a room at their own costs in the hotel or organize an accommodation in Braunschweig on their own accord. Schimmel Pianos will organize a shuttle service between the hotel and the competition's locations.
Awards
1st Prize Either the production and publishing of a CD, including digital distribution under a label or the production of a music video for self publishing.
2nd Prize 2,000 Euro
3rd Prize 1,000 Euro
Audience Award 500 Euro
Repertoire
The piano pieces can be chosen freely, but should predominantly meet high artistic and pianistic standards. The presented piano works should follow a topic of the participant's choice. There are no restrictions in the choice of a topic. Thematical connections can be established for example by programmatic terms such as musical motifs and themes (e.g. "water", "night", "dream", "time"), characters and people (e.g. "Scheherazade", "Undine"), selected composition genres (e.g. "Préludes", "Capriccio") or technical elements (e.g. "staccato", "Octaves"). Your program's topic can extend far beyond the given examples. Your own creativity and imagination is required!
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The concept of your concert program can deal with thematic connections, as well as contrasts and discontinuities and can show up relationships crossing established boundaries of musical genres and epochs. Improvisations and changes in a composition are allowed, insofar as your concept convincingly demands them. Essential to the conceptualization of your concert program are artistic independence, individuality, creativity and originality as well as comprehensibility and appeal (entertainment, pedagogical effects) for the audience. Participants have the possibility to present the idea underlying their program concept in a maximum 2-minute long introduction in German or in English before their piano performance. This introduction is desirable, but not mandatory.
Two programs with different topics must be curated for the first and final round .
Concert program 1st round: 20 - 30 minutes
Concert program final round: 30 - 50 minutes
Pieces from the first round can only be repeated in the final round, if it is necessary for the realization of your program's concept.
A change of your concepts is not possible after entering the competition!
If you have any questions concerning the conceptualization of your program you can reach out directly to the jury.
How can I enter the competition?
How can join?
Professionally trained pianists, aged between 18 and 32 years at the time of the competition can take part.
How can I apply?
Online submissions are open to 15 July 2020. Please take note of the rules and regulations before applying. Fill in the registration form and upload all required documents via upload form. Submissions will only be accepted on receiving all required files as specified.
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Which information and files are required?
- Information on your repertoire for both rounds (work, composer, duration)
- Short biography (max. 300 words)
- A description of both program concepts for the first and the second round, including the repertoire (one DIN A4 page per concept idea max.) // file format: .pdf // size: max. 500 KB
- Video* // file format: .mp4 // size: max. 8 GB
- Portrait picture// file format: .jpg, .png, .gif // 300 dpi // size: max. 5MB
- Copy of your passport or your identity card // file format: .jpg, .pdf, .gif) // size: max. 2 MB
* What do I need to know before recording my video?
- Present a free repertoire for piano-solo of minimum 10, maximum 15 minutes
- Your face and hands should be clearly visible
- The video should be uncut and unedited (e.g. without effects, zoom, titles or transitions)
- The audio recording should be in a good quality (no dynamic compression)
- The video shouldn't be older than 6 months at the time of your registration.
! Competition DAtE RESCHEDULED TO SEPTEMBER 2021 !
Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to hold a public competition with international participants in September 2020, due to current travel- and quarantine regulations. Regarding the current situation of the corona pandemic some participants from abroad would need to go into quarantine, which would be an unfair disadvantage. For this reason, we have decided to postpone the competition to September 2021. All candidates who applied in 2020 will be considered, only the competition will be rescheduled.
