DATES:  March 11 – 18, 2019

AGE:  18 through 30

LOCATION:  Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA

COMPETITION PIANOS:  Steinway & Sons graciously provides the grand pianos for the Competition and its related events. The Steinway grand piano Model D will be available to the 2019 competitors for action testing on March 10 at the Round I and Round II competition venue.

COMPETITION ROUNDS:  The 2019 Hilton Head International Piano Competition will consist of four rounds of competition.

  • Round I                            20 Competitors
  • Round II                           20 Competitors
  • Round III – Semi-Finals   6 Competitors
  • Round IV – Finals             3 Competitors

 

COMPETITOR SELECTION JURY:  The Competitor Selection Jury will evaluate, without discussion, all video audition files on the basis of commonly accepted musical criteria. The Jury will then select twenty (20) competitors to compete in the 2019 Hilton Head International Piano Competition. The Jury will also provide the competition administration with a rank ordered list of alternates.  The Jury’s decision is final.

 

COMPETITOR SELECTION JURY

  • Alan Chow – chair, USA
  • Jonathan Bass – USA
  • Nancy Weems USA

 

COMPETITION JURY

  • Pavlina Dokovska – Bulgaria , Chair
  • Bruce Brubaker– USA
  • Marian Hahn – USA
  • Gabriel Kwok – Hong Kong
  • Evan Mirageas – USA
  • Ronan O’Hora – Great Britain
  • Orli Shaham – USA

 

COMPETITOR ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE DATES:  All competitors are expected to arrive on either Thursday, March 7 (for those traveling from international locations), or Friday, March 8 (for those traveling from U.S. locations) and to depart on Tuesday, March 19, 2019.

HOST FAMILY ACCOMMODATIONS:  Each competitor stays in the home of a Host Family from arrival on March 7 or 8 to departure March 19, 2019, who provides lodging, food, all local transportation, and a grand piano for practice. If a competitor wants to stay in the Hilton Head area for any days falling before or after the period of March 8 – 19, they will be responsible for arrangements and payment for their own lodging, food, and transportation for those extra days.

TRANSPORTATION:  The Competition will reimburse up to $500 in travel costs for each of the twenty (20) competitors.

2019 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

  • Saturday and Sunday, March 9 and 10:  Action testing of competition piano;
  • Sunday, March 10: welcome party for competitors and host families, drawing for performance order
  • Monday and Tuesday, March 11 & 12: Round I
  • Wednesday and Thursday, March 13 & 14: Round II & School Ambassador Program
  • Friday, March 15: Master Classes and School Ambassador Program; practice time for Semi-Finalists
  • Saturday – March 16:  Round III  Semi-Finals
  • Sunday, March 17: One-on-One Conversations with the Judges in the morning; rehearsals with the HHSO for the finalists
  • Monday, March 18:  Round IV Finals (Awards Ceremony & Reception)

 

PRIZES

  • First Prize: $15,000; a recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall during the 2019-20 season; production and distribution of a CD on the Archiv/Steinway & Sons label; return engagement with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and other performance opportunities
  • Second Prize: $10,000
  • Third Prize: $5,000
  • Medalist Prizes (3): $1,000
  • Sascha Gorodnitzki Memorial Prize :$1,000