Best Music Competition

The Queen Elisabeth Competition is a Belgian music competition founded in 1937 under the original name Eugène Ysaÿe Competition. It rotates annually among piano, voice, and violin, and is held in Brussels. The competition was established at the initiative of Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and violinist...

Founded in 1927 and held in Warsaw every five years, the International Chopin Piano Competition is restricted to the solo piano works of Frédéric Chopin. It is one of the oldest and most prominent competitions dedicated to a single composer's repertoire. Winners have included pianists such as Martha...

Founded in 1962 and held in Fort Worth, Texas, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition takes place every four years. It is named for the American pianist Van Cliburn, who won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958. Organized by the Cliburn, the event awards prizes to pianist...

Founded in 1954, the Paganini International Violin Competition is held in Genoa, Italy, the birthplace of Niccolò Paganini. The competition is restricted to violinists and includes required repertoire by Paganini. It is organized annually and has awarded first prizes in some years to multiple compet...

The Leeds International Piano Competition was founded in 1963 by pianist and teacher Fanny Waterman and is held in Leeds, England. The competition takes place every three years and is open to pianists from around the world. Past winners include Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia.

Founded in 1952, the ARD International Music Competition is held annually in Munich and organized by the ARD public broadcasting network. Unlike single-instrument events, it rotates its categories each year across solo instruments, voice, and chamber music. The competition includes preliminary round...

Founded in 1987, the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition is organized by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, formerly the Thelonious Monk Institute. It is held in Washington, D.C. and rotates focus among different instruments and vocals. The competition has awarded prizes to performers...

The Sibelius International Violin Competition is held in Helsinki, Finland, in honor of composer Jean Sibelius. Organized every five years by the Sibelius Society, it is open to violinists under the age of 30. The required repertoire includes works by Sibelius, whose Violin Concerto is a central pie...

Founded in 1935 in Poznań, Poland, this quinquennial competition is named after the 19th-century Polish violin virtuoso and composer Henryk Wieniawski. It ranks among the world's oldest international violin competitions and is open to violinists under a specified age limit. The competition tests per...

Named after the Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, this biennial competition is held in Paris, France. It attracts cellists from around the world to compete across multiple rounds of solo and accompanied repertoire. Rostropovich, who lived from 1927 to 2007, was one of the most inf...

Established in 1985 at the University of Louisville with funding from industrialist H. Charles Grawemeyer, this award recognizes distinguished large-scale musical works by living composers. It carries a $100,000 prize and is one of several Grawemeyer Awards, which also honor contributions in educati...

Founded in 1982, this quadrennial competition takes place in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is open to violinists from around the world. It is one of the most significant violin competitions based in the United States. Competitors are evaluated across multiple rounds that include solo repertoire, sonata...

Held in Tel Aviv, Israel, since 1974, this triennial competition is named after the Polish-American pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who was personally involved in its founding. It is open to pianists internationally and focuses on the standard concerto, solo, and chamber repertoire. The competition award...

Held annually in Bolzano, Italy, since 1949, this competition is named after the Italian composer and pianist Ferruccio Busoni, who lived from 1866 to 1924. It is one of the oldest piano competitions in Italy and is open to pianists internationally. The competition tests competitors across multiple...

Established in 1983, this triennial competition takes place at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. It is open to string quartets from around the world and focuses on ensembles in the early stages of professional careers. Competitors perform across multiple rounds of standard...

Founded in 1939, the Geneva International Music Competition (Concours de Genève) is one of the oldest international music competitions in Europe. It is distinctive for covering multiple instrumental and vocal disciplines, rotating its categories from year to year. The competition is open to performe...

Drum Corps International (DCI) was founded in 1972 as the governing body for junior drum and bugle corps in North America. Its annual World Championships, typically held in August, crown the top corps after a summer-long competitive tour spanning multiple states. Corps are evaluated on brass, percus...

The Sanremo Music Festival (Festival della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo) is an annual Italian popular song competition held in the Ligurian town of Sanremo since 1951. It is among the longest-running televised music competitions in the world and has served historically as Italy's national selection p...

The Hamamatsu International Piano Competition is a triennial music competition held in Hamamatsu, Japan. Founded in 1991, the event is named after a city globally recognized for its piano manufacturing industry. Open to international pianists, it features multiple elimination rounds leading to a fin...

The Young Concert Artists International Auditions were founded in 1961 in New York by Susan Wadsworth as a career development program for gifted young classical musicians. Operating differently from traditional ranked competitions, the auditions select a roster of exceptional instrumentalists and vo...

The Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition is a classical music contest founded in Paris in 1943 by pianist Marguerite Long and violinist Jacques Thibaud. Originally focused on piano and violin, the competition later expanded to include voice and was renamed in 1998 to honor soprano Régine Crespin. The tr...

The Israel International Harp Competition is a triennial music competition held in Israel for classical harpists. Founded in 1959 by Aharon Zvi Propes, it is one of the most prominent international contests dedicated exclusively to the instrument. The competition requires participants to perform a d...

The Gaudeamus Prize is an international award presented by the Gaudeamus Foundation in the Netherlands for contemporary classical music. Established in 1945, the competition is open to active composers who are under the age of 35. A jury evaluates submitted scores and recordings across various categ...

The Georges Enescu International Competition is a classical music contest held in Bucharest, Romania. Established in 1958, the event is named in honor of the renowned Romanian composer and violinist Georges Enescu. It features multiple categories that traditionally rotate or expand, including piano,...

The Clara Haskil International Piano Competition is a biennial classical music event held in Vevey, Switzerland. Founded in 1963, it is named in memory of the Romanian-Swiss pianist Clara Haskil, who was highly regarded for her interpretations of classical and romantic repertoire. The competition is...

The Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hannover is a triennial classical music event held in Hannover, Germany. Named after the influential 19th-century violinist and composer Joseph Joachim, the competition attracts elite young violinists from around the world. Participants are require...

The Honens International Piano Competition is a triennial event established in 1992 in Calgary, Canada. It is distinguished by its holistic approach to evaluating pianists, assessing not only their solo recital skills but also their ability to perform chamber music and concertos. Rather than simply...

The Prague Spring International Music Competition is an annual classical music event held in the Czech Republic since 1946. It is organized alongside the prestigious Prague Spring International Music Festival, which was founded in 1946. The competition features rotating instrumental and vocal catego...

The Rome Prize in Music Composition is a fellowship program administered by the American Academy in Rome. Established to support American artists and scholars, the prize provides winners with a residential fellowship that typically lasts from several months to a year. Recipients are granted stipends...