COMPETITION

In order to apply, click here

Rules

1. The “International Piano Competition Emmanuel Durlet 2025” is open to participants of all nationalities.
2. The candidates must be at least 16 years old and should not have reached the age of 31 years by the 4^thof April.
3. The competition is public and consists of a first online video round, live semi-final round, and a live finals round in Antwerp, Belgium.
4. Applications, application fee, and video submissions are due on January 5, 2025. The candidates who may advance to the semi-finals will be announced on January 19, 2025.
5. The application must be submitted through this website and should be accompanied by:
   • 1 (or more) links to the videos of the first round uploaded to YouTube or to Vimeo
   • a scan of the identity card or passport of the candidate (jpeg/pdf)
   • a scan of the identity card or passport of a parent or guardian if the candidate is younger than 18 years old (jpeg/pdf), a photo, at least 300 dpi, minimum 9 x 13 cm (jpeg)
   • The program choices for the 3 rounds submitted online.
6. Maximum 15 participants will go to the semi-finals and 6 finalists will go to the finals of the competition.
7. The candidates may choose the order in which they will perform the works. The program for the semi-final round may not be longer than 30 minutes. The program for the final round may not be longer than 40 minutes. If the program lasts longer than indicated in the rules, the chairman of the jury may interrupt the candidate. The program of semi-final and final rounds must be completely different, but the pieces from video round may be repeated in further rounds.
8. The program of the semi-final and the final rounds may be modified by the candidates until March15^th.
9. The order and time of performance of the semi-finalists will be determined on the March 15^th, 2025. The order of appearance stays the same for final round.
10. First Prize 'Emmanuel Durlet' for Piano winners will not be able to participate in future editions of the competition.
11. The candidate gives the organizers of the 'International Piano Competition Emmanuel Durlet 2025' the right to use the pictures and videos which were sent by the candidate within the framework of the competition. The candidates will not receive any indemnity or claim conditions. By sending the photo's the candidate confirms that he or she possesses the intellectual rights for these photo's or has received the permission to use them.
12. Candidates who don't make it to the semi-finals will receive feedback from the jury.

The application is definitive only after the payment of the application fee. The application fee, 120 Euros, can be paid by bank transfer to the ING Bank account number BE35 3200 4363 7037 (BIC/Swift BBRUBEBB) payable to the 'Emmanuel Durlet-Fonds v.z.w.' B-2020 Antwerpen or via Paypal to info@emmanuel-durlet.be.

Please always mention "International Piano Competition Emmanuel Durlet 2025" and the candidate's name.

Program

Online Video Round

The candidates must upload a video of maximum 20 minutes to YouTube or Vimeo by January 5^th, 2025, with the following program:

• One work by J. S. Bach
• Etude of Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Stravinsky,...
• One work chosen by the competitor

Semi-Final Round

Friday, April 4^th. St. Paul's Church, Antwerp, Belgium. 

The semi-finalists will play for a maximum of 30 minutes on a beautiful restored Bluthner grand piano which belonged to Emmanuel Durlet. There will be a maximum of 15 semi-finalists. 

Program:

Free program that includes Adagio in G (4 minutes) by J.H. Fiocco in the version of Emmanuel Durlet

A copy of the sheet music of E. Durlet can be found here

If in doubt about your program choices, please feel free to email your program proposal for approval.

Final Round

Sunday, April 6^th. St. Paul's Church, Antwerp, Belgium. 

There will be a maximum of 6 finalists, who each will play maximum 40 minutes.

Program

Free program that includes one of the following compositions by Emmanuel Durlet

• • Chrysanthemums: (4 minutes), copy of the sheet music can be found here
  • Aeolus Vision (5 minutes), copy of the sheet music can be found here 
  • The Valley of Nobel Thoughts (5 minutes), copy of the sheet music can be found here

If in doubt about your program choices, please feel free to email your program proposal for approval.

Jury

1. The Jury will consist of seven international performing artists and conservatory faculty.
2. In case of a tie, the voice of the chairman of the jury is decisive. There is no possibility for appeal.
3. The deliberation of the Jury is confidential. However, the jury can show their appreciation of the candidates.
4. The semi-finalists will be announced at the end of the online-streaming round. The finalists will be announced an hour after the last semi-final performance. The winners will be announced and hour after the last final performance.
5. A jury member will not be able to vote for a current or a former student.

Members of the jury:

• Kiyotaka Izumi, pianist, jury chairman
• Eliane Rodrigues, pianist
• Bart Rodyns, organist
• Irene Russo, pianist
• Edoardo Torbianelli, pianist
• Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort, pianist
• Boyan Vodenitcharov, pianist

Prizes

• 1st Prize: 'International Prize Emmanuel Durlet for Piano 2025' : € 4.000,-- and a recital organized by the Emmanuel Durlet foundation
• 2nd Prize: Donation Luc Leblanc – € 3.000,-- 
• 3rd Prize: Donation by Mr. Carl Smits (old student Piano from Emmanuel Durlet): € 2.000,--
• 4th Prize: Donation by Mrs Delacâve-Hernould: € 1.000,--
• Special Prize: Donation by Family Durlet, Best performance of Emmanuel Durlet’s work: € 700,-- Euro

All Prizewinners receive a diploma mentioning the Prize received.

The laureates of the semi-finals, who did not receive a Prize, will be awarded a diploma.

Winners will be featured in future performances organized by the Durlet Foundation.

Should you require additional information regarding this competition, please mail to Kiyotaka@emmanuel-durlet.be

In order to apply, click here

Emmanuel Durlet

Antwerp, Belgium 1893-1977 

"The most beautiful music is the rustling of leaves rocked by the breeze" – Emmanuel Durlet

Born in 1893 into an important family of architects, Emmanuel Durlet was a piano virtuoso and professor of piano for more than 40 years. His contemporaries called him "the Poet of the Piano". His compositional oeuvre comprises fifty works for Piano, eighty short pieces for young performers, a concerto for piano and orchestra, a concerto for violin and orchestra, a sonata for violin and piano, a number of " Lieder" and various pieces for piano and other instruments. To help his students become acquainted with the 18th century Flemish works for harpsichord, he rearranged about 300 of them for piano. Another significant work was his reworking of 9 Sonatas by Kennis for Violin and Piano.

For more about Emmanuel Durlet and his works, visit: www.emmanuel-durlet.be