The 1st MusicAlive International Piano Competition Online, organised by World Piano Teachers Association Poland and Institute of Music at the University of Silesia in Katowice, was carried out remotely due to the pandemic. The competition was conducted under the honorary patronage of Prof. Andrzej Kowalczyk, Rector of the University of Silesia, who also sponsored the cash prizes.
The competition jury consisted of 15 renowned pianists representing Poland (including 5 artistic and research staff of the Institute of Music at the University of Silesia), as well as Italy, Switzerland, USA, Croatia, Cuba, Hungary, Taiwan, Serbia and Portugal.
The competition enjoyed great interest – over 120 applications from 17 countries (including Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Cyprus, Sw, Ukraine, USA, Lithuania, Macedonia, Serbia, Germany and Portugal) in 5 age categories were submitted. The performing level of participants turned out to be very high, which is best proven by the fact that the competition winners have won many prizes in international contests to date. Another evidence of the high level of competition was the necessity to divide the main prizes ex-aequo and award distinctions for the individuals with very high piano skills, who failed to win the main prizes.
Partners of the competition included Lunigiana International Music Festival in Italy and the biggest music publishing house in Poland – Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, which sponsored in-kind prizes for the best Pole and special prize.
Detailed information, including the list of prizewinners, is available on: www.wpta.info/poland/ipc.
