The institute’s spokesman, Aleksander Laskowski, told Polish Radio 2, the public broadcaster’s arts-and-music channel, that the move is in response to requests from some of the pianists who have had problems in meeting the strict requirements of the competition regulations.
Competition rules require applications to include a professionally produced video recording in a single, unedited take.
Laskowski said that a record number of applications is expected. In the previous edition of the event, in 2021, over 500 pianists from 33 countries submitted their video recordings.
By May, a selection panel will announce the names of 160 pianists who will be invited to Warsaw to participate in a preliminary stage of the competition. Eighty of them will vie for accolades in October.
The competition's international jury will be chaired by American pianist Garrick Ohlsson, the winner of the 1970 event. It is the first time a foreign judge will serve as jury chair in the almost century-long history of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
In his interview for Polish Radio 2, Laskowski described Ohlsson as "an extraordinary personality, a musician who has delved deeply into Chopin’s music.”
The 17-member judging panel will also include Dang Thai Son and Yulianna Avdeeva, the event’s winners in 1980 and 2010 respectively, alongside acclaimed pianists Nelson Goerner, Kevin Kenner, Robert McDonald, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Piotr Paleczny and Ewa Pobłocka, as well as American musicologist and Chopin scholar John Rink and British music critic John Allison.
The 19th International Chopin Piano Competition will begin on October 2, 2025, with a gala concert featuring several past winners of the event.
The 2025 winner will be announced on October 20, taking home a cash prize of EUR 60,000, along with opportunities for future solo and orchestral engagements and recordings
Established in 1927, the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw is among the world’s oldest and most prestigious events of its kind.
(mk/gs)