Created in 1989 by Gerard Bekerman, professor of economics at the university and a graduate of the Paris School of Music, the International Competition for Outstanding Piano Amateurs is designed for top level amateurs. They come from all walks of life : doctors, office workers, lawyers, students, pensioners, engineers, and many others.
Each year, the panel of judges consists of well-known pianists and key personalities:
Idil Biret, Genevieve Joy-Dutilleux, Anne Queffelec, Sabine Lacoarret, Germaine Deveze, Francois-Rene Duchable, Marc Laforet, Aldo Ciccolini, Michel Dalberto, Jay Gottlieb, Alexis Weissenberg, Marc-Olivier Dupin, Eric Heidsick, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Dominique Merlet, Siheng Song, Olivier Gardon, Pierre Reach, Michel Beroff, and so on.
A second press panel consists of more than twenty music critics representing both the main european dailies and the national and international media. All contribute to promoting the International Competition for Outstanding Piano Amateurs.
This unique Competition has met with considerable success over the years, attracting hundreds of candidates from 50 countries worldwide. They love to meet in Paris in the congenial atmosphere of piano enthusiasts from every corner of the globe. One of the basic principles of the Competition is the free choice of programme. There are no set pieces. The aim is not to limit the candidates, but to discover the works of musicians of their own choosing. The winners have been invited to play with orchestral backing in the Sorbonne in Paris, under the baton of Georges Pretre and the American conductor George Pehlivanian and, more recently, with the Symphony Orchestra of the Republican Guard of Paris directed by Francois Boulanger and the orchestra of the Paris Conservatorium of Music The originality of the Competition lies in the fact that the competitors are not amateurs in the sense of dabblers, but pianists, who dont just play the piano, musicians who, at some time in their lives, have had to make a choice, often a difficult one, between their profession and their potential career as a concert performer, the choice between making a living and their love of music.
The Competition is organized every year in Paris. The next finals will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2008 at 6.00 pm in the prestigious amphitheatre of Sorbonne University in Paris under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture and BNP Paribas Asset Management and with the partnership of Francefs leading radio station for classical music, Radio Classique, which will be broadcasting the finals. The Association has over 20,000 sympathizers and friends. The Concours is always delighted to welcome candidates from throughout the world. |
