Welcome to 2025 International German Music Piano Competition
100% YouTube online competition
Registration period: August 1, 2025 to October 1, 2025
YouTube video link deadline: October 1, 2025
Repertoire: German and Austrian composers, any music era

Piano solos, duets, chamber music and concertos welcome!

Photo credit: Berman Films

General Rules for 2024 Competition

COMPETITION DIRECTOR AND CHAIRPERSON: Dr. Yelena Balabanova

APPLICATION FEE: 
$65 (5 minutes and less, 1 or 2 solo piano Austrian or German piece(s)
$80 (6 to 10 minutes, 1 or 2 solo piano Austrian or German piece(s) OR piano concerto movement OR piano/other instruments and chamber music with piano.
$95 (11 to 15 minutes, 1 or 2 solo piano Austrian or German pieces OR piano concerto movement(s) OR piano/other instruments and chamber music with piano.

PERFORMER ELIGIBILITY: Any age, any nationality, any country. 

JUDGING SYSTEM: Each video link is individually evaluated with a point system. There is no peer-to-peer comparison and all participants are individually judged by world class adjudicators.
Gold 96 – 100
Silver 91 – 95
Bronze 85 – 90
Participation Certificate 0 – 84

JUDGING CRITERIA:
Stylistic awareness
Technical facility
Musicality
Sound maturity
General presentation

REPERTOIRE: Published Austrian or German composers only. Maximum 2 pieces are allowed for each category. If 2 pieces are used, please note that lower quality piece will affect the total score. Piano transcriptions of orchestra works by German or Austrian composers are allowed. However, participants may not perform simplified editions, non-classical, or any music from method books. Memorization required for all SOLO and CONCERTO works. Chamber works (i.e., duets, trios, etc) are excluded from the memorization requirement.

YOUTUBE:
All solo piano works must be performed from memory except for chamber works. Concertos must be performed by memory and must have accompaniment. For piano concertos, the accompanist's face must NOT BE VISIBLE on the YouTube link. The video must be unedited and must clearly show the contestant’s hand and face. The judges' decision are final and cannot be appealed. TITLE in YouTube link must say 2024 International German Music Piano Competition, NAME and AGE. DESCRIPTION AREA must have composer(s) and piece(s) performed. 

INSTRUMENTS: Solo piano, piano duets, piano trios, piano transcriptions, piano ensembles with other instruments, piano concertos

PRIZES: Downloadable Medal diplomas will be provided to all Gold, Silver, Bronze winners, each with winner's name and teacher's name. Outstanding video performances from the Gold winners will be chosen by judge and will be featured on website and social media. Grand Prix winners will be invited to perform LIVE at Meydenbauer Theater, Bellevue, WA on October 25, 2025 at 6:30 pm. 

2025 Adjudicator

DR. LEI CAI

Lei Cai was born in Shanghai, China. His music training began at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music when he was six. Having received the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory Scholarship Award for five consecutive years, he came to the United States in 1992. He secured the MM in Piano Performance at the University of Tennessee, DM in Piano Performance at the Florida State University. His teachers include Qing-Hua Wang, Stanley Potter, David Northington, and Leonard Mastrogiacomo. Dr. Cai joined the music faculty at Ouachita Baptist University in 2001, and serves as Professor of Piano.

Dr. Cai has collaborated with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra on CD. He has premiered and recorded solo works by famous Chinese composers for Radio Shanghai; those critically acclaimed recordings have been broadcast in China. He has presented numerous recitals in China, Europe, and the United States. His performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.1 was described as “one of the finest performances of this work…Cai displayed a power and crispness of technique that would make any soloist proud” (Knoxville News-Sentinel). Radio Shanghai described his playing as “clear, colorful, and poetic.”

Dr. Cai has won numerous awards, including the 1998 Music Teachers National Association Southern Division Collegiate Artist Piano Competition, the 1997 Young Chang Artist Competition, the 1997 Oak Ridge Symphony Young Artist Competition, Tallahassee Music Guild Award, and the Liberace Scholarship Award for Performing Arts. He has been invited to judge national competitions, to perform at world-famous music halls including the Sydney Opera House and at historical music sites such as the SchumannHaus, to hold master classes in the United States, Korea and China, to perform as the featured artist at the national convention of the National Federation of Music Clubs and at the “Hands on Piano” International Piano Conference in Portugal, to present lecture recitals at the state convention of Florida State Music Teachers Association, and has produced MTNA student competition winners.

Dr. Cai was inducted into the “Steinway Teacher Hall of Fame” in 2023.

Registration

Pianists may enter for DIFFERENT categories, (piano solo, duets, concertos, chamber music etc, but must register and pay for each one separately). NO REFUNDS ISSUED AFTER REGISTRATION. 

APPLICATION FEE:
$65 (5 minutes and less, 1 or 2 solo piano Austrian or German piece(s)
$80 (6 to 10 minutes, 1 or 2 solo piano Austrian or German piece(s) OR piano concerto movement OR piano/other instruments and chamber music with piano.
$95 (11 to 15 minutes, 1 or 2 solo piano Austrian or German pieces OR piano concerto movement(s) OR piano/other instruments and chamber music with piano.

APPLICATION PERIOD:
APPLICATION PERIOD: August 1, 2025 to October 1, 2025.
YouTube links must be received by October 1, 2025.
Instructions for YouTube video links and sheet music upload will be emailed to all registered pianists.
Results will be posted by October 10, 2025 on our website.

REGISTER NOW
Mobirise

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2025 Competition Results

2025 winners will be announced here on October 10, 2025

AGES 7 and under

AGE 8

AGE 9

AGE 10

AGE 11

AGE 12

AGE 13

AGE 14

AGE 15 AND UP

ADULT AMATEUR, NON-PIANO MAJOR

DUETS, ALL AGES

CONCERTOS, ALL AGES

About Us
  • 100% of all registration fees from the International German Music Piano Competition go directly to Bellevue Symphony. We are an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
    Get In Touch

      Dr. Yelena Balabanova, Competition Director

      Conney Vernall, Competition Director

      Allan Park, Registrar

    EMAIL US
    Executive Board

    BELLEVUE SYMPHONY 
BOARD MEMBERS:
    Dr. Sara Wagner, Board Member, Executive Director
    Allan Park, President
    Dr. Adam Aleksander, 1st Vice President
    Nino Merabishvili, 2nd Vice President
    Dr. Hanna Cyba, Secretary
    Brian Davenport, Treasurer
    Dana Davenport, Board Member, Logistics
    Jeff Elwell, Board Member, Concert Manager
    Kevin Burton, Board Member, Hospitality Manager

    BELLEVUE SYMPHONY STAFF
    Bob Gale, Personnel Manager
    Deborah McClellan, Librarian

    ADVISORS
    Dr. Yelena Balabanova, Artistic Advisor
    Dr. Natalya Ageyeva, Advisor
    Dr. Renato Fabbro, Advisor
    Conney Vernall, Advisor
    Risa Jun, Advisor