PLEASE READ THESE VERY CAREFULLY

Entry Fee

• £120 (UK Sterling) non-refundable

Eligibility

Competitors must be aged between 16 and 30 for the duration of the competition (22/02/2024 – 02/03/2024). 1st prize winners from previous competitions may not enter again.

Entry is by VIDEO AUDITION ONLY

Application closing date: 15 September 2023.

Programme

Applicants must complete their programme with full details and timings. All works MUST have their Number/Title, keys, opus or other classification, movements and timings.

Competitors offered a place in the competition will be notified by email by 1st December 2023  and will then be given 7 days to make any changes to programmes.

Competition Regulations

The Jury

The Jury retains the right to hear any part of the concerto chosen in Stage 1 and to stop a performance if any competitor exceeds their allocated time.

Current or former students (of the last three years) of the President of the Jury will not be permitted to take part in the competition. Any other juror who has a student participating in the competition must declare this at the jury briefing and will not be permitted to vote for their own current or former students (of the last three years).  All jury votes will be counted and quantified as the ratio between the total number of votes received per competitor, and the number of jurors eligible to vote for that competitor. A competitor is not considered to be a student of the jury member if they have participated in a masterclass/single lesson/online lesson with them.

All Jury decisions are final and no discussion or correspondence will be entered into.

Accompanists/Practice Pianos

Competitors may bring their own orchestral accompanist or use an official HIPCC accompanist, for a fee of £80, which includes the rehearsal and performance.  Competitors using an HIPCC accompanist will be given a rehearsal time on either Tuesday 20th or Wednesday 21st February 2024. Competitors will be allocated practice times whilst they are in the competition, these will not be able to be rescheduled and if not used no alternatives will be offered.

Publicity/Marketing

A written English biography of 320 characters must be supplied with the application.  Links to existing biographies will not be accepted.

Applicants must supply a high resolution jpeg photograph suitable for printing.

Any recording made of HIPCC of performances throughout the competition will be and will remain the property of HIPCC and may be used by HIPCC or its partners for the promotion of the competition.

Registration

Following the auditions all successful competitors will receive a welcome pack giving details of accommodation, transport, accompanist, etc. Registration takes place from Tuesday 20th February and all competitors are expected to attend the welcome reception on Wednesday evening 21st February 2024.

Accommodation

The Competition will provide accommodation with host families for all competitors (bed and breakfast). This is offered to the competitor only and not for family members or accompanists. You may choose to stay in other accommodation at your own expense. Accommodation will cease the day after you leave the competition.

Travel

Travel to and from the competition is at your own expense. Some bursaries towards travel may be offered in cases of proven need or hardship – please email info@hastingsinternationalpiano.org with inquiries.

Prizes

Finalists may be invited to give a recital in Hastings as part of the prize and will be given travel expenses and a token fee. All finalists will be offered opportunities to further their professional development.

We expect all prizewinners to make reference to their award in their concert biographies for at least one year after winning the award.

All information is correct at time of publishing.

Stage 1
A performance of 28 mins maximum including breaks and pauses to be divided as follows:

Up to 14 minutes playing time of a concerto from List A and up to 14 minutes playing time of a concerto from List B, both with second piano. This can be complete movements or parts of each concerto, as long as both concerti are presented.

Stage 2
A Solo repertoire performance of up to 35 minutes including breaks and pauses (minimum 30 minutes). At least two composers must be represented from two different periods in addition to the commissioned piece. Programming will be taken into consideration in the jury’s decision.

Semi-Final
10 Semi-Finalists perform a complete concerto with the Southbank Sinfonia. This will be the same concerto from list A played in Stage 1.

Final
5 finalists perform a complete concerto during two evenings with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, chosen from List B. This will be the same concerto from List B played in Stage 1.

The competition reserves the right to change the performance order for the semi-finals and finals, as decided by the President of the Jury and General Manager, in order to present a balanced programme in each case.

Time-limits

All time – limits will be strictly adhered to. A timekeeper will be assigned to the jury for both the first and second stages. Competitors will be stopped if they exceed the time limit by more than one minute.

Jury Duties

The main jury consists of seven members chaired by the Artistic Director, Professor Vanessa Latarche  – President of the Jury

The jury briefing will take place at 3pm on Wednesday 21st February 2024 at Fairlight Hall.

Jury proceedings and voting are confidential and jurors should not discuss any aspects of the candidates’ performances with each other or with any third parties, either in person or electronically, except at the feedback meetings which will be arranged with candidates who are eliminated (as noted below). All Jury decisions are final, and no discussion or correspondence will be entered into regarding the decisions.

Jury members are expected to maintain a neutral manner when listening to competitors, and refrain from any comment or demonstrative behaviour during performances, out of respect for the candidates.

The Jury Manager calculates the results, assisted by the General Manager and President of the Jury, to ensure absolute fairness and accuracy.

It is the responsibility of the President of the Jury to announce the decision of the jury by reading the names of the competitors progressing to the next round at the end of each round in performance order. The President of the Jury also announces the final results and prizes. The finalists must be present for the final result announcement and presentation.

Should a pianist, their teacher, or member of the public attempt to communicate with a juror either in person, electronically or in any other manner during the competition, the juror must inform the Jury Manager. Failure to do so may result in disqualification at the discretion of the President of the Jury in consultation with the Jury Manager.

Voting Procedures and Rules

1. Conflict of interest: Current or former students (of the last three years) of the President of the Jury will not be permitted to take part in the competition. Any other juror who has a student participating in the competition must declare this at the jury briefing and will not be permitted to vote for their own current or former students (of the last three years).  All jury votes will be counted and quantified as the ratio between the total number of votes received per competitor, and the number of jurors eligible to vote for that competitor. A competitor is not considered to be a student of the jury member if they have participated in a masterclass/single lesson/online lesson with them.
   
2. Individual jury voting lists are not available to other jury members or to the general public.
   
3. After the first stage each juror will be asked to complete a form indicating the 20 performers they would like to vote ‘yes’ for plus 3 additional ‘maybe’ votes, subject to rule 1. If ties occur for the last places to be filled, then the jury will rank the tied competitors in a second ballot, subject to rule 7. If ties occur after the ranking, a third ballot will be held to decide between the tied competitors. If the result is still indecisive after the third ballot, the President of the Jury will have the casting vote.
   
4. After the second stage each juror will be asked to complete a form indicating the 10 performers they would like to vote ‘yes’ for plus 3 additional ‘maybe’ votes subject to rule 1. If ties occur for the last places to be filled, then the jury will rank the tied competitors in a second ballot subject to rule 7. If ties occur after the ranking, a third ballot will be held to decide between the tied competitors. If the result is still indecisive after the third ballot, the President of the Jury will have the casting vote.
   
5. After the semi-final each juror will be asked to complete a form indicating the 5 performers they would like to vote ‘yes’ for plus 1 additional ‘maybe’ vote subject to rule 1. If ties occur for the last places to be filled, then the jury will rank the tied competitors in a second ballot subject to rule 7. If ties occur after the ranking, a third ballot will be held to decide between the tied competitors. If the result is still indecisive after the third ballot, the President of the Jury will have the casting vote.
   
6. At the end of the final, an agreement will be reached by the jury as to whether to award the First prize. Each prize will be voted for individually from First prize to Fifth prize in descending order, with the prizes being awarded to the competitor with the majority of votes in each case.  The jury is asked to consider the performances and programming of the finalists’ second stage and semi-finals in addition to the finals when making their choices of ranking. If there is a tie between two or more competitors, the President of the Jury will have the casting vote.
   
7. If the tied competitors for the last places to be filled in each of the first stage, second stage and semi-final contain a competitor who is a student of a member of the jury, the juror will abstain from the second and third ballots in each case.
   
8. The Orchestra prize is decided by the members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the General Manager will liaise with the orchestra for this.
   
9. A special prize is awarded at the discretion of the President of the Jury to the competitor who gives the best performance of a concerto from List A in the semi-final.

Feedback

Feedback on performances from the video screening and Stage 1 will not be available to the competitors.

Pianists that do not pass through from Stage 2 to the semi-finals, will be able to discuss feedback from their performances with the President of the Jury.

Pianists who do not pass from the Semi-finals to the Finals will be able to discuss feedback from their performances with jury members.

Feedback in written form (hard copy or via email or messages) will not be available for any of the competitors.

Unconscious Bias

The Jury will be given unconscious bias training to ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion issues are covered and known to all. This will be carried out at the jury briefing by the Jury Manager.

Contingencies

There may be instances where there is a need for a ruling to address an issue that is not covered in the above document. In such cases, the President of the Jury will confer with the Managing Director and their joint ruling on the matter is final.

All information is correct at time of publishing.