Liszt Utrecht

Liszt Utrecht actively presents, develops and promotes piano talents from around the world. And by doing so it has become one of the prominent gateways to the international professional classical music scene for young musicians. Starting point is the triennial International Liszt Competition, held at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht, The Netherlands. The Competition was founded in 1986 and since has built a reputation as one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions. As of the edition in 2022 the competition has a new structure in place, which focuses less on the competing part and gives more opportunities to the participating pianists to showcase their artistry to an international audience. Liszt Utrecht consists of five phases. The first phase is the online selection round, where candidates are judged based on videos. Forty candidates are invited for the second phase, the live selection rounds in Utrecht nine months prior to the competition. Each performing a 40 minute recital. Ten will be selected for participation in the next two phases. First, an ‘academy’ where they will be able to fine tune their repertoire with well-known Liszt experts, followed by the Festival, where each of the ten pianists perform four recitals. One recital devoted to original compositions of Liszt, one to works of Schubert, one to chamber music and one to songs. What makes it truly a festival is that it is no longer set-up in rounds, but it consists of fixed type of concerts on certain times of the day. The fifth phase is ‘the Finals’, where the three winners of the competition are presented to the world during a performance with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. What sets the Liszt Utrecht apart from colleagues is the extensive Career Development Programme that is offered to its winners for a period of three years. Providing management (with over 300 concerts), professional coaching, publicity and continuous mentorship.