The 8th International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn will take place from 6 - 14 December 2019 as a prelude to Beethoven’s 250th birthday celebration in 2020. Applications for the piano competition will be accepted starting 15 November 2018. Competition performances will once again be broadcast worldwide via livestream. Pianists from all countries between the age of 16 and 32 at the time of the competition are invited to submit their applications by the deadline on 10 May 2019. Interested parties should visit www.telekom-beethoven-competition.de, where they will find detailed information on the competition repertoire and application requirements.
A selection committee will choose 28 pianists from the pool of applicants to take part in the 2019 competition. The selection committee consists of Pavel Gililov, professor at University Mozarteum Salzburg who also serves as the competition’s artistic director and chairman of the jury, along with Andreas Frölich, professor at Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, and Jinsang Lee, professor at Korea National University of Arts and pianist in the Beethoven Trio Bonn.
Joining Pavel Gililov (Germany/Austria) on the 2019 International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn jury will be Dmitri Alexeev (United Kingdom/Russia), Akiko Michel Béroff (France), Peter Hyoung Joon Chang (South Korea) Hisako Kawamura (Japan), Paul Schenly (USA), Ilona Schmiel (Germany), Henri Sigfridsson (Finland) and Natalia Trull (Russia).
The competition’s top finishers will receive prize money totaling more than € 70,000. The competition winner will receive € 30,000, the second-place finisher € 20,000, and third-place finisher € 10,000.
The competition will also award a number of special prizes totaling more than € 10,000:
- The Audience Favorite award for the best interpretation of a piano concerto in the final
- The Chamber Music Prize sponsored by the Beethoven Trio Bonn
- The Beethoven-Haus Prize (live audience favorite during the semi-finals)
- The Deutsche Telekom StreamOn Beethoven Award (livestream audience favorite)
- The best interpretation of a contemporary piece
- The best interpretation of a Robert Schumann piece
- Musical score prizes for the three finalists, sponsored by the Bärenreiter publishing house
The 2019 festival program includes an additional evening: the new chamber music final, featuring the three finalists playing a complete Beethoven piano trio together with members of the Beethoven Trio Bonn. The Beethoven Orchestra will accompany the finalists as they interpret a Beethoven piano concerto in the competition’s final round. Along with their prize money, winners will also receive numerous opportunities to perform around the world in solo recitals or as orchestra soloists.
Along with its high artistic standards, the competition places great emphasis on creating a personal atmosphere and sees itself as a meeting place for promising young pianists here in the birth city of Ludwig van Beethoven. Participants in the International Telekom Beethoven Competition live with guest families for the duration of their stay in Bonn.
Press inquiries:
Deutsche Telekom AG, René Bresgen, Rene.Bresgen@telekom.de,
Tel.: +49 (0)228 / 181-94473
Beethovenfest Bonn, Barbara Dallheimer, presse@beethovenfest.de,
Tel.: +49 (0)228 / 20 10 3-40
Further information about registration:
International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn
Director, Project Office
Jonas Nachtsheim, nachtsheim@beethovenfest.de
Tel.: + 49 (0)228 20103-34