Going Dutch: An international competition is now non-competitive

Make of this press release what you will.

After Liszt Utrecht (formerly known as the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition) was cancelled in March 2020 due to covid restrictions, a new edition will finally take places from 22 – 29 September in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Ten selected pianists from all over the world will perform the most touching and virtuosic piano music of Franz Liszt. As of this edition, Liszt Utrecht will put less emphasis on the competitive element and offer the pianists more possibilities to present their talents in different ways.

Watch Liszt Utrecht online
Audiences around the world won’t miss a single note as each concert of the competition can be rewatched the day after on YouTube (lisztcompetition). Furthermore, all evening concerts plus the Grand Finale will be streamed live on the same channel.
Festival phase
During the festival phase (22 – 26 Sept) each of ten pianists will present four different concerts: one with original works, one with chamber music, one with songs, and one with piano transcriptions. During the song recital all will perform a newly commissioned song written by the Dutch composer Mathilde Wantenaar, performed in collaboration with soprano Bernadeta Astari.

The festival provides listeners with known and unknown works of Franz Liszt, as well as a range of works from Franz Schubert to commemorate his 225th birthday. These works include his famous Trout Quintet during the chamber music round, and his songs during the transcriptions round. Schubert was one of Liszt’s big idols.

Grand Finale
Three pianists will be selected after the festival to perform during the Grand Finale of Liszt Utrecht on Thursday the 29th of September in de Main Hall of concert venue TivoliVredenburg. Here they will perform Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Christian Reif. The winner will be announced at the end of this evening and will also perform on the 2nd of October with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
First prize: € 25.000
2x runner-up prize: € 10.000
Audience award: € 2.500
The three winners will also receive an extended career development support including about a hundred concerts around world.

Dutch talent
Besides the 10 international pianists, Liszt Utrecht for the first time offers a stage for upcoming Dutch piano talent (up to 23 years old) in a series of NLiszt concerts. One of these pianists will be selected to perform with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra during the Grand Finale of Liszt Utrecht.

Participants, musicians and jury
The following pianists participate during Liszt Utrecht: Viktoria Baskakova, Minkyu Kim, Yukine Kuroki, Tamta Magradze, Matyáš Novák, Yeon-min Park, Leonardo Pierdomenico, Vitaly Starikov, Derek Wang, KaJeng Wong, and Dutch pianists Philip Karmanov, Youngjae Kim, Alfredo van de Munt and Radu Ratering.

They are observed by an international jury, consisting of pianists Suzana Bartal, Frederic Chiu, Janina Fialkowska, Nino Gvetadze, Michael Lewin, Mūza Rubackytė, Wibi Soerjadi, Mariangela Vacatello, and head of the jury Cynthia Wilson.