A major international piano competition is distorted by its chairman

Concerns are being raised about the forthcoming Bonn Beethoven Telekom International Competition, where the chairman is, as ever, the distinguished pedagogue Pavel Gililov. The competition was founded by Gililov in 2005.

The rules state clearly that ‘pupils of a jury member at the time of application, or those who have been pupils of a jury member for at least one year during the four years preceding the competition, are not eligible to enter.’

However, Professor Gililov’s students somehow always manage to enter, and usually to win.

Gililov has been professor at Cologne University and at the ever-troubled Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Here is his recent record as a jury chairman:

2016 Internationaler MozartWettbewerb Salzburg

Prizewinners

1. Saski Giorgini (Class Prof. Gililov)
2. Yoonhee Yang (Class Prof. Koroliov)
3. Julia Kociuban (Class Prof. Gililov, Salzburg)

2011 Internationaler MozartWettbewerb Salzburg

Prizewinners

1. Federico Colli  (Class Prof. Gililov)
2. Ji-Hye Jung
3. Xiaoxi Wu

2017 J.N. Hummel International Piano Competition, Bratislava

Prizewinners

1. Yu Nitahara  (Class Prof. Gililov)
2. Kana Ito  
3. Tatiana Dorokhova

2014 J.N. Hummel International Piano Competition, Bratislava

Prizewinners

1. Su Yeon Kim (Class Prof. Gililov)
2. Agapi Triantafyllidi Class Prof. Gililov)
3. Michael Davidov Class Prof. Gililov)

As for the Bonn Beethoven Telekom Competition, here is a selection of winners:

2005

1st Prize Henri Sigfridsson (Class Prof. Gililov at the time of the competition)

2011

1st Prize Jingge Yan (Class Prof. Gililov, soon after the competition)

2013

1st Prize Soojung Ann (Class Prof. Gililov at the time of the competition)

2015

1st Prize Filippo Gorini (Class Prof. Gililov, at the time of the competition)

And its all entirely against the rules…

Gililov, born in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 1950, left the Soviet Union in 1978 and settled in Cologne where, according to the official biography, ‘he re-ignited his passion for musical instruction’. And tightly controlled competitions, apparently.