Rules & Regulations

 

The competition is open to participants born after March 21, 1988, i.e. who are no older than 36 at the time of the contest.

The structure of the Competition has changed:

The competition will have one Online round AND  two “Live” rounds.

 

  • Online round (video selection): 
  1. Preliminary:
    Please send the link of your Video recording between the 1st of September 2024 and latest 15th of September 2024
    together with the application and the entry fee (s. application).

  • “Live” rounds:
  1. Semi-Final:    March 2025 (exact dates will be announced later)
    3.     Final:              March 2025 (exact dates will be announced later)

     

The competition consists of 3 rounds: Preliminary, Semi-Final and Final.

The competition will take place from 16h of September 2024 until March 2025 (exact dates will be announced later).

Both “live” rounds are held in the Festsaal of Saarbrücker Schloss (Saarbrücken Palace, Germany).

 

Videos from online round will be downloaded and available to the public on our YouTube channel.
Both live rounds (Semi-Final and Final) will be recorded and uploaded as well.
The last two rounds are open to the public.

Due to the inconveniences and difficulties caused by COVID-19, we will not set any specific requirement for the format
of the video recording. Please make sure that your video recording is filmed as professional as possible.

The video recording or excerpts from a live concert from the last two years are permitted, as long as they match the recording requirements of the Bach Competition!

That means:
* any cuts or editing in the video recording is forbidden!
* Pianists must be fully visible at all times, which means the video can be taken with ONE camera only!

Competitors are allowed to record each work from Preliminary round separately, eventually creating 2 links.
An example from the Preliminary Round: the entire French Suite can be recorded first and the second required work
on a later date. A whole set of work must be played and recorded without any interruptions!

 

Together with your application the entry fee of € 150 is to be paid on submission of the Application Form via:

  • PayPal
  • Credit Card
  • Bank transfer (free of charge for the receiver):
    Sparda-Bank Suedwest Saarbrücken
    IBAN: DE36 5509 0500 0005 1486 00
    BIC: GENODEF1S01
    Address of the receiver: Förderverein für Internationale Klavierwettbewerbe J. S. Bach, e.V.
    Höhenweg 197, 66133 Saarbrücken / Germany

This application fee will not be refunded.

Only applicants with a receipt of the complete application form will receive a confirmation from the competition office.

The order of performance in the Semi-Final will be decided by the jury one week before its commencement and will be sent by email to each pianist. The basis of this decision is to create a diverse program for the public as well as pianists.

Participants admitted to the semi-final and final rounds are required to remain in contact with the Competition Committee.

Participants consent to any radio, video and television recordings, for which they waive all rights to financial remuneration. Any recordings made during the competition, remain the property of the International Piano Competition J. S. Bach in Memoriam Walter Blankenheim and can be used by the Competition in any way.

 

Prizewinners will be announced at the award ceremony, approximately 2 hours after the final performance of the Final Round in March 2025.

Our prizes will be awarded only to semi-finalists and finalists who are present at the ceremony.
Please take note that special prizes can be generated from any round of the competition.
If any competitors from the Preliminary round receive prizes, we will send these awards by E-Mail.

The decisions of the jury are final.
Participants are being evaluated on a high standard of performance.
Thus, the jury is not obliged to award all the prizes.

These regulations will be issued in German and English. However, in case of doubt, only the German text shall be considered legally binding.

On submission of their entry form, participants imply their agreement to these regulations.

 

Rules and Regulations on the Voting procedure
of the competition

  1. Jury members must refrain from voting for the duration of the competition for any contestant that has
        at any point studied with them.
  2. During the first-round jury members must refrain from voting (in Preliminary) for any contestant they
         have taught in a Masterclass in the two years preceding the competition.

Due to the independent international teaching activities of the Jury members, and in spite of the competition’s attempts to diversify the jury by inviting guest jurors to the core jury, it is theoretically possible that a contestant may have participated in courses given by several jury members.

To ensure that the outcome of the final rounds is not effectively decided on by only one or two jurors, all jurors are allowed to vote in the last two rounds (Semi-final and Final) even for participants they have taught in masterclasses.

(This applies only to participants that have participated in masterclasses. For current or former students see paragraph 1).

  1. All rounds of the competition are judged on the same scale, with the final result being a total sum of results
        of all preceding rounds.
  2. The decision of the jury is final.
  3. In the evaluation of performances, the jury is required to maintain the highest standard, and is not required
        to award all prizes.

 

The voting process works in this way:

  1. In the intervals, between performances, jury members award only points to the participants anonymously.
        These points are then tabulated by the jury directors.
  2. After the points are added, there is a discussion about the participants that have fallen just short of the required score to
        pass into the next round. This discussion aims to ensure that the maximum possible number of participants proceed to the
        next round and to prepare a reserve list in case of any cancellation of participants for the next round (e.g. due to injury or
        personal problems).
  3. After the end of every round, there is a discussion (and vote if required) on all borderline cases.

Renewed votes DO NOT include any juror that has taught or is currently a teacher of a candidate.

The results will be sent to the candidates by Email.

After the preliminary round the jury provides an opportunity to the participants who did not proceed to the next round, to have a 15-minute conversation with one of the jurors via skype or zoom.  If you would like to take up this offer, please contact us within 8 days of the announcement of results of the preliminary round, and we will arrange a date and time: when this can take place.
Please send an email to:
info@bach-competition.de or bach@thebachproject.de or
kirill.monorosi@sydney.edu.au or   kirill.monorosi@bach-competition.de

 

It is of particular importance to us to ensure


that this competition is carried out fairly and transparently!