2018 - piano

The 2018 Geneva Piano Competition was held from 27 October - 8 November in Geneva, Switzerland. The competition was open to all pianists born after 8 November 1988.

> Regulation & complete competition programme.
 

 
Steinway & Sons, partner of the piano competition 

OFFICIAL PRIZES

1st PRIZE EX AEQUO
Théo Fouchenneret, 24 ans, France
Dmitry Shishkin, 26 ans, Russie

3rd PRIZE
San JIttakarn, 26 ans, Thaïlande
 

SPECIAL PRIZES

Audience Prize
Dmitry SHISHKIN

Young Audience Prize
Dmitry SHISHKIN

Students Prize
Dmitry SHISHKIN

Paul Streit Prize
Sung Ho YOO 

Georges Leibenson Prize 
Daumants LIEPINS

Paderewski Prize
San JITTAKARN 

OFFICIAL JURY

• Joaquín Achúcarro, Spain, President
• Hortense Cartier-Bresson, France
• Peter Donohoe, Great Britain
• Kei Itoh, Japan
• Björn Lehmann, Germany
• Cédric Pescia, Switzerland
• Andrei Pisarev, Russia

PRESELECTION JURY

• Hortense Cartier Bresson
• Fabrizio Chiovetta
• Géry Moutier
• Cédric Pescia
• Akiko Shirogane

All pieces must be performed by heart, except for the compulsory piece and the contemporary piece (Recital II), as well as the chamber music work. Candidates may choose the order in which they wish to perform their programme during each round.

A. Preliminary round – video recording

• J. S. Bach: a choice of one piece among the following :
  - Preludes & Fugues (Well-Tempered Clavier) BWV846 – BWV893
  - Partitas (min. 3 movements) BWV825 – BWV831
  - Toccatas BWV910 – BWV916
  - English Suites (min. 3 movements) BWV 806 – BWV811
  - French Suites (min. 3 movements) BWV 812 – BWV817 
   
• F. Chopin or F. Liszt: ONE Etude at choice
  - Chopin: Etudes Op. 10 or Etudes Op. 25
  - Liszt: Transcendental Etudes S. 139 OR
  - Etude de Paganini S. 141
   
• Third piece at free choice (for piano solo)

The works chosen for the preliminary round may be performed again during the competition.

B. Recital I: (max. 50 candidates - max. 30 min.)

• One work at choice by one of the following composers:
  - J. Brahms
  - F. Chopin
  - F. Schubert
  - R. Schumann
   
• A classical piece at choice from the following list:
  - W. A. Mozart: Rondo in D Maj. KV 485 (5‘)
  - J. Haydn: Variations in F min. Hob. XVII/6 (16’)
  - L. v. Beethoven: Andante in F Maj. WoO 57 (8’)
   
• Compulsory work by the Swiss composer Victor Cordero: Spiegeltoccata (max. 10’)

C. Recital II: (max. 16 candidates – max. 45 min.)

• A Sonata by Beethoven at free choice
• One or several works by Claude Debussy (approx. 10 min.) at free choice.
• A piece composed after 1950, at choice from the included list.

D. Semi final round: (max. 8 candidates –max. 60 min.)

The programme is divided into two parts. Order of performance at free choice of the candidates:

• W. A. Mozart’s Quintet KV 452 for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon (25 min.)
• The rest of the programme is at free choice. Works already performed in other rounds may not be repeated (except those included in the preliminary round). Determining factors include originality, choice of repertoire and variety.

E. Final round with orchestra (3 finalists)

• At choice, one of the following concertos:
  - Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto n°3 in C minor Op. 37
  - Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto n°4 in G Major Op. 58
  - Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto n°5 in Eb Major Op. 73
  - Béla Bartók Concerto: n° 3 Sz 119
  - Johannes Brahms: Concerto n°1 in D minor Op. 15
  - Johannes Brahms: Concerto n°2 in Bb Major Op. 83
  - Frédéric Chopin: Concerto n°1 in E minor
  - Frédéric Chopin: Concerto n°2 in F minor
  - Franz Liszt: Concerto n°1 in Eb Major
  - Franz Liszt: Concerto n° 2 in A Major
  - Serge Prokofiev: Concerto n° 2 in G minor Op. 16
  - Serge Prokofiev: Concerto n° 3 in C Major Op. 26
  - Maurice Ravel: Concerto in G
  - Camille Saint-Saëns: Concerto n° 2 in G minor Op. 22
  - Camille Saint-Saëns: Concerto n° 4 in C minor Op. 44
  - Robert Schumann: Concerto in A minor Op. 54

With the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Peter Oundjian

List of contemporary works at choice for the Recital II:

Luciano Berio Sequenza IV (12')
*William Blank Lightnings (8’)
Pierre Boulez 12 Notations (11')
Pierre Boulez 1ère Sonate (12')
Elliot Carter Caténaires (4’)
Unsuk Chin 3 Études à choix (env. 15’)
Henri Dutilleux 3 Préludes (12')
Beat Furrer Voicelessness. The Snow Has No Voice (10’)
Stefano Gervasoni Studio di disabitudine (14')
György Kurtag 8 Klavierstücke Op. 3 (7')
Michael Levinas Trois Etudes (10')
György Ligeti 3 Etudes à choix (env. 12’)
Olivier Messiaen Petites esquisses d'oiseaux (14')
Rebecca Saunders Shadow (11’)
Salvatore Sciarrino une Sonate pour piano (10')
Karlheinz Stockhausen Klavierstück IX (11')
*Stefan Wirth Faims II (5’)
Yannis Xenakis Evryali (10‘)
* Musical scores available at the office of the Geneva Competition

• Programme 2018
• Press review 2018
• Semi-Final & Final rounds of the piano competition
• Video interviews of the finalists
• Videos "Backstage of the Competition"