The Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition (August 17–31, 2017) has received 195 applications representing 39 nationalities and the following countries: Armenia (2 applicants), Australia (3), Belarus (2), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1), Brazil (1), Bulgaria (1), Canada (2), China (17), Croatia (1), Cyprus (1), Denmark (1), Finland (18), France (4), Georgia (2), Germany (4), Greece (1), Indonesia (2), Israel (4), Italy (4), Japan (15), Kazakhstan (1), Kyrgyzstan (1), Latvia (3), Lithuania (3), Mexico (1), New Zealand (1), Norway (2), Poland (3), Romania (1), Russia (32), Serbia (1), South Korea (28), Spain (1), Sweden (2), Taiwan (5), Turkey (1), Ukraine (6), United Kingdom (2), and United States of America (15).
Not more than 40 pianists will be accepted for the first round on the basis of video recordings. The names of the successful applicants will be posted on the competition website by May 26 at the latest.
The competition is open to all pianists born in or after 1987, regardless of nationality. The competition will be held at the Helsinki Music Centre and be streamed worldwide by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). Yle will also be televising the orchestral finals. The organiser is the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki.
Arabesques et adages by Kaija Saariaho commissioned for the competition is one of the elective works in the second round.
The deadline for applications was April 24. The names of the successful applicants will be announced by May 26 at the latest. The order of performance will be decided by lot on August 17. There will be three rounds in the competition, all of them public events. The first round will be held on August 18–22, the second on August 24–25 and the finals on August 27–31: the chamber music finals on August 27 and orchestral finals on August 30–31. The prizes will be awarded after the finals on August 31.
The competition jury will have eight members: Dmitri Bashkirov, Janina Fialkowska, Ralf Gothóni, Ewa Kupiec, Alberto Nosè, Roland Pöntinen, Dang Thai Son and Dina Yoffe.
The orchestra in the finals will be the Helsinki Philharmonic conducted by Anna-Maria Helsing. The quartets in the chamber music finals will be the Tempera and the New Helsinki.
The first prize is worth €30,000, the second €25,000 and the third €20,000. The other three finalists will each receive a consolation prize of €8,000. Special prizes totalling €10,500 will also be awarded, and the winner will give a solo recital at the PianoEspoo festival on November 9, 2017.
Tickets for the Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition are on sale at Ticketmaster.
The previous winners of the International Maj Lind Piano Competition are Alberto Nosè (2002), Sofija Guljak (2007) and Sergei Redkin (2012).
The Fourth International Maj Lind Piano Competition will be held in Helsinki on August 17–31, 2017. Established as a national event in 1945, the competition was made international in 2002. Young pianists from all over the world meet to compete in Helsinki at five-year intervals. The Maj Lind Piano Competition is named after Maj Lind (née Kopjeff, 1876–1942), a keen music lover, and is funded out of a bequest made by her in her will. The organiser is the Sibelius Academy, the University of the Arts Helsinki. majlindcompetition.fi
facebook.com/majlindcompetition
twitter.com/majlindpiano
instagram.com/majlindcompetition
#majlind2017
More information
International Maj Lind Piano Competition
majlindcompetition.fi
Terhi Luukkonen, Secretary General
puh. +358 40 710 4368
terhi.luukkonen@uniarts.fi
Katri Maasalo, Press Officer
puh. +358 50 577 2558
katri.maasalo@uniarts.fi
