Piano competition to take place from December 6 - 14, 2019 in Bonn
Two-week concert tour through South Korea awaits 2019 competition winner
The International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2019 – scheduled for December 6 - 14, 2019 in Bonn – will accept applications until May 10, 2019. Pianists between the age of 16 and 32 at the time of the competition are invited to submit their applications. A total of 28 artists will be selected to compete. Applications can be submitted via the Telekom Beethoven Competition website at www.telekom-beethoven-competition.de. Here, applicants can also find additional information on eligibility requirements and the required repertoire.
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, pianist in the Beethoven Trio Bonn.
“The goal of the competition is to promote young, professional artists and provide them with an international forum to showcase their talents – a forum that is also greatly expanded through worldwide livestreaming of the eventIn their interpretations, we expect competition participants to express their own ideas and impressions while still remaining true to the composer’s original ideas. Our aim is to discover outstanding young pianists and support their long-term development in the form of recognition and additional support.” says Prof. Pavel Gililov.
This year, a total of more than € 70,000 will be awarded to the competition winners. 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. In the competition’s final round, which will take place this year for the second time in the Telekom Forum, the Beethoven Orchestra will accompany the finalists as they interpret a Beethoven piano concerto.
In the spirit of the Beethoven anniversary year, one competition winner will be invited on a two-week concert tour of South Korea in May 2020. He or she can look forward to numerous performances in South Korea’s biggest concert venues thanks to this collaboration with the Steinway Prizewinner Concerts Network and the Austrian-Korean concert agency World Culture Networks (WCN).
Winners can also look forward to performances throughout the 2020/21 season, including at Beethovenfest Bonn, the Kissinger Sommer, the VP Bank Classic Festival Liechtenstein, the piano concert series Kirchheimbolanden, and many more.
The International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2019 will kick off with a prize-winner soiree featuring pianists Tomoki Kitamura and He Jeong Lee on June 26th in the Beethoven Haus chamber music hall. Japan native Kitamura (2nd place finisher in 2017) will perform works by Robert Schumann and Ludwig van Beethoven, while South Korean Ho Jeong Lee (3rd place finisher in 2017) will present works by Sergei Prokofiev and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets for the prize-winner soiree on June 26th (8:00 pm) can be purchased in advance at Bonnticket for € 28 plus the advance booking fee (discounted price: € 14).
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
Head of Project Office
Jonas Nachtsheim, nachtsheim@beethovenfest.de
Tel.: + 49 (0)228 20103-34