As I am writing this, the eagerly anticipated 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition is taking place right around the corner, from June 17th to 29th, 2019. Thanks to medici.tv‘s commitment to live stream the competition in its entirety, I will be

Composed to celebrate the union of the cities of Buda and Pest into the present-day Hungarian capital in 1923, the Dance Suite quickly became one of Béla Bartók’s most popular works. It did more for Bartók’s reputation, in the positive

If you hope to have a career in music sooner or later you’ll have to participate in some sort of competition. Although they can be life-changing for a young person’s career, the preparation is arduous, and an audition or contest

Competitions, a fact of life for musicians, can be the bane of our existence. They are demanding and arduous, taking months, or years, of disciplined preparation and nerves of steel. I was invited to serve on the jury of this

The year was 1948, and athletes from around the world gathered in London to participate in the 14th Olympic Games in the modern era. Because of World War II, it had been 12 years since the last Olympic competition, and

Bartok may have declared that competitions were “for horses”, but this year’s prestigious BBC Young Musician competition, which has just reached its thrilling conclusion with the prize being awarded to cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, proved above all that music brings joy

Just when we think the world is saturated with a profuse presence of piano competitions, a new one has sprung up in a unique format, promoting classical music in a most unexpected location. Judging from its immense operational scope, vast

Murray Perahia: Winner in 1972 Since its inception, the Leeds International Piano Competition has attained a highly respected reputation as the “most coveted prize in the piano world and internationally acclaimed for introducing some of the greatest pianists of our