Online competition for pianists

The Solinaria Youth Festival is hosting a online competition for pianists.

Solinaria is a festival that aims to support young musicians on their long journey of creative growth. Solinaria’s second edition is therefore expanding its scope to include an international competition for pianists.

The Solinaria team realizes how important it is for budding talents to grow through the challenge of a competition. There will be a special emphasis on music from the Balkans as a way of supporting the local culture.

Pianists will be divided into seven age groups and will compete in two categories. The participants can participate choosing one of two categories or according to their choice they can participate in both categories:

  • Category A: two piano pieces from different time periods – a work by a European composer and a work of the candidate’s choosing; and
  • Category B: a work by a Balkan composer and a work of the candidate’s choosing.

The grand prize is participation in a concert with an orchestra in Bulgaria in the 2022/2023 season.

The young instrumentalists will be judged by an authoritative jury of renowned professionals:

  • Shin Wang – artistic director of the Geilenkirchen International Piano Competition, Germany and President of the Jury of the International Piano Competition “Euregio Piano Award”
  • Agatha Leimoni – Head of the Piano Department at the Athens Conservatory and lecturer at the International Piano Academy in Belgium “Primavera Pianistica”
  • Naira Vahanyan – Principal of a Music School “T. Choukhajyan”, Director of the E. Mirzoyan Memorial Fund, and Vice President of the Arno Babajanyan Memorial Fund in Yerevan
  • Leonel Morales Alonso, professor at the Sommerakademie in Salzburg and at the Alfonso X el Sabio University in Madrid, artistic director and creator of the piano competitions Maria Herrero International Piano Competition (Granada), La Rioja International Piano Competition (La Rioja) and the Spanish Composer International Piano Competition (Madrid).
  • Marina Plyasova – Head of the Department of Young Talents and Lecturer at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo
  • Michele Rossetti – artistic director of the International Piano Competition Città di Spoleto, as well as of the international courses held in Chianciano Terme and San Gemini, Italy
  • Lilia Boyadzhieva – Professor at the Academy of Music in Athens and CRR, Schola Cantorum, Montrouge, Paris

Registration deadline: April 18, 2022

Results will be announced on May 3, 2022