The Queen Elisabeth Competition, known for alternating between different instrument categories each year, has unveiled the 70 candidates selected for its 21st edition, which will focus on piano. After a rigorous video pre-selection round held in January, a total of 289 applicants aged between 18 and 31 were considered. These talented musicians will now compete for the prestigious title in 2025.
The first round of the competition will take place from May 5–10, 2025, at Flagey, a renowned performance venue in Belgium. The selected candidates, chosen by an international jury led by jury president Gilles Ledure, come from across the globe. The jury also included François-Frédéric Guy, Daejin Kim, Momo Kodama, Julien Libeer, Jan Michiels, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, and Boyan Vodenitcharov.
The competition’s first prize winner will be awarded the Queen Elisabeth International Grand Prize (Queen Mathilde Prize), which comes with a €25,000 cash award. In addition to the prize money, the First Laureate will be offered a series of solo recitals and a tour of Asia and Brazil alongside the Second Laureate. The second-place winner will receive €20,000, while third place will earn €17,000, and fourth place will be awarded €12,500. The fifth and sixth-place winners will receive €10,000 and €8,000, respectively.
Candidates who make it to the semi-finals but do not advance to the final round will each be given €1,000. Concert opportunities for the six unranked laureates will include a recital, while the six ranked laureates will perform with an orchestra and also embark on a tour across Belgium.
The awards ceremony, where the winners will be announced, is scheduled for June 3, 2025, at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel. Further details about the jury members for the public competition rounds will be disclosed at a later date.
Related Topics
- Jeffrey Grice Returns to New Zealand: A Pianist Who Makes the Keys “Talk”
- The Secret Signatures of Jazz Legends Inside SAM’s Grand Piano
- Paul McCartney’s Most Experimental Instruments and Their Unique Use in His Music
