Johann Sebastian Bach International Piano Competition

Last updated

The Johann Sebastian Bach International Piano Competition was an American piano competition that took place in Washington, D.C. [1] [2] Founded by Raissa Tselentis [3] in 1959 with help from philanthropist David Lloyd Kreeger, the competition took place every 4 years at Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University. [4] [5]

Contents

The competition was compared by The Washington Post as of similar statue as that of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition or International Tchaikovsky Competition for it's time. [2] Winners could win up to $5,000-10,000 (about $20,000-40,000 in 2026) and often have gone on to play with orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony. [1] [6] The 25th anniversary was held in memory of Glenn Gould, and featured many of the world's leading pianists as judges. [6] Repertoire consists of 3 rounds, that require music by Johann Sebastian Bach that include his Well-Tempered Clavier, Partitas, and Goldberg Variations .

The competition was one of the first to hold blind playing, as to prevent sexism and bias from the judges. This creating a surge of young women pianists winning the competition, leading to adequacy for women pianists. This attribute of the composition was featured prominently in Time Magazine , as well as Music Critic Paul Hume writing, "it took the Goldbergs to separate the women from the men." [1]

Charles Fisk played for the United States then-president Jimmy Carter at the White House directly after the competition. [7]

Winners and jury

Winners have included the following:

Jury have included the following:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Contests: Sex & Bach". Time Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "New Orleans Man Wins Bach Contest". The Washington Post. 1983-09-26. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  3. ↑ "RAISSA TSELENTIS, 86, DIES". The Washington Post. 1994-07-15. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  4. 1 2 "Winning Variations". The Washington Post. 1980-06-09. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  5. ↑ "BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK BACH". The Washington Post. 1993-07-01. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  6. 1 2 "Bach On Keys". The Washington Post. 1983-06-27. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  7. 1 2 3 "Bach-Fest's Queen". The Washington Post. 1985-06-28. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  8. ↑ The Curtis Institute of Music (1974). Overtones fiftieth anniversary issue 1974. The Curtis Institute of Music. [Philadelphia, Pa.] : The Institute. pp. 98–99.
  9. ↑ "Contests: Sex & Bach".
  10. ↑ lorinewman13 (2011-06-26). "Seán Duggan, piano". New Mexico Philharmonic. Retrieved 2026-01-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "Los Angeles International Piano Competition". www.laipc.org. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  12. ↑ Min, Ji H. (5 June 1986). "A Gift From God". www.thecrimson.com. The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved 31 October 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.