2026 Gina Bachauer Junior & Young Artists Piano Competition
Every two years, the world’s most promising pianists gather in Salt Lake City for the prestigious Gina Bachauer International Piano Competitions to compete for prestige, cash, and prizes.
Location: Salt Lake City, USA | Application Deadline: Sept. 15, 2025
View DetailsLeipzig Bach Competition 2026
The International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition expects participants to meet very high standards. They should have a confident stage manner and be experienced at performing in the historical style required by the Competition programme. It is expected that candidates use urtext editions. A great number of manuscripts of Bach’s works can be found at www.bachdigital. de.
Location: Leipzig, Germany | Application Deadline: Sept. 30, 2025
View DetailsQueen Elisabeth Competition
One of the most demanding and also one of the most widely publicized international competitions, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, ever since its creation in 1937, has established itself as a springboard for young violinists, pianists, singers, and cellists on the threshold of an international career. The Competition aims, above all, to serve as an intermediary between those young virtuosos and the world’s great musical venues. Steadfastly committed to the project initiated by Eugène Ysaÿe and Queen Elisabeth, the Queen Elisabeth Competition seeks to discover complete artists; it owes its reputation to a prestigious jury, strict rules, and unparalleled media coverage, as well as to the friendly and enthusiastic hospitality offered by an entire country and its Royal Family. For the finalists, one of the highlights of the Competition is their stay at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, which offers them an opportunity to spend a whole week studying, without any external assistance, a new work to be performed with an orchestra.
Location: Brussels, Belgium | Application Deadline: Nov. 26, 2025
View DetailsEttlingen International Piano Competition
Every other year Ettlingen becomes the global center for piano enthusiasts for a week: Young participants together, with their families and teachers, meet like-minded people from all over the world, a top-class jury and interested music lovers. Numerous voluntary helpers and local residents give the event a special charm. Since 1988 the Ettlingen Piano Competition has become one of the most important events of its kind worldwide and is a member of the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY) and the Alink-Argerich-Foundation.
Location: Ettlingen, Germany | Application Deadline: April 18, 2026
View Details66th Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition (piano)
Founded in 1949, the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition is rich in both tradition and innovation, and is regarded as one of the most successful institutions of its kind. Its biennial structure includes the Glocal Piano Project and final stages that are both intensively followed by audiences worldwide. After the successful conclusion of the final rounds of the 64th current prize winner, who benefits from a large number of worldwide concert engagements, and on the other hand, to opening Glocal Piano Project in cooperation with Steinway & Sons. The competition is firmly against any nationalist appropriation or political propaganda and instead promotes an understanding of musicians as citizens of the world (Weltbürger), independent transnational citizens, in the spirit of its namesake Ferruccio Busoni.
Location: Bolzano, Italy | Application Deadline: May 4, 2026
View DetailsLeeds International Piano Competition (piano)
The Leeds International Piano Competition, held every three years since 1963, is one of the world’s foremost piano competitions. It discovers, launches, and champions exceptional young pianists globally. The competition offers transformative prizes including worldwide management with Askonas Holt, a debut recording with Warner Classics, recitals at prestigious venues like Wigmore Hall and the Southbank in London, European and East Asian tours in association with Steinway & Sons, broadcast opportunities with the BBC, and numerous national and international engagements with orchestras and promoters. The competition has a rich history, with finals traditionally held at Leeds Town Hall (except in 2024 when the finals took place at St George’s Hall, Bradford due to refurbishment). It has launched the careers of pianists such as Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia, Mitsuko Uchida, and András Schiff.
Location: Leeds, UK | Application Deadline: Oct. 31, 2026
View DetailsFourth Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition & Festival
The Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival was established in 2015 as another means for the Cliburn to use its standing and expertise to encourage tomorrow’s great artists, to provide a valuable forum for them to express themselves, and to give them an entrance to the next step of their journeys. Key ingredients are top international jurors, the media and webcast, Final Round performances with orchestra, and the festival atmosphere, which included performance experience and artistic workshops. The most recent edition (2023) drew 247 applications from 44 countries; live and on demand webcast views topped 2,000,000 with viewers in more than 170 countries. The fourth edition will take place in Dallas, Texas, in June 2027. Further details regarding application, venues, jury, competition schedule, and festival events will be announced in 2026.
Location: Dallas, USA | Application Deadline: Jan. 10, 2027
View Details18th International Tchaikovsky Competition 2027
The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, 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. The International Tchaikovsky Competition was the first international music competition held in the Soviet Union, beginning in 1958. For the XIV competition in 2011, Valery Gergiev was appointed the competition's chairman, and Richard Rodzinski, former president of the Van Cliburn Foundation, was appointed general director. A new voting system was instituted, created by mathematician John MacBain, and used by the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the Cleveland International Piano Competition. 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. The XVII International Tchaikovsky Competition was held in Moscow in 2023.
Location: St. Petersburg, Russia | Application Deadline: April 16, 2027
View Details18th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is widely considered “the instrument’s Olympics” (The Guardian, June 2025) and “one of the most prestigious contests in classical music” (The New York Times, June 2022). From its origins in 1962 through today, it has remained dedicated to sharing music with the largest international audience possible and to launching the careers of its winners. Known for excellence and innovation in the digital space, the Cliburn is one of the most-watched events in classical music: views over the past four years have topped 100 million across 200 countries. The Cliburn is a proven catalyst to significant worldwide touring careers for its winners, with a laureate roster that—in the past 25 years alone—includes Olga Kern, Joyce Yang, Haochen Zhang, Nobuyuki Tsujii, Yeol Eum Son, Vadym Kholodenko, Beatrice Rana, Yekwon Sunwoo, and Yunchan Lim. And to that list, it now adds its 2025 class: Aristo Sham (gold), Vitaly Starikov (silver), and Evren Ozel (bronze). This track record of success brings an elite group of 18- to 30-year-old pianists to Fort Worth every four years to compete for the coveted medals. The total Cliburn prize package is worth an estimated $2 million and includes comprehensive and personalized career management, concert bookings, artistic support, and bolstered publicity efforts.
Location: Fort Worth, USA | Application Deadline: Oct. 16, 2028
View Details20th International Chopin Piano Competition 2030
The International Chopin Piano Competition (Polish: Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina), often called the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition in Warsaw, Poland, held first in 1927 and every five years since 1955. The competition is one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. It is also one of the few competitions devoted entirely to the works of a single composer,[1] in this case, Frédéric Chopin. It is organized by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. The Chopin Competition is considered one of the most prestigious competitions in classical music, known for launching pianists' world careers. Past winners have included Maurizio Pollini (1960), Martha Argerich (1965), Krystian Zimerman (1975), Yundi Li (2000), Rafał Blechacz (2005), and Seong-Jin Cho (2015). The most recent winner is Bruce Liu of Canada in 2021. Yundi Li is the youngest winner and youngest juror in the competition's history.
Location: Warsaw, Poland | Application Deadline: Jan. 12, 2030
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