AAF-catalogue-2017

Confused ?
All details in this catalogue were compiled with great care. Yet, it may happen that at
some points confusion may arise. This is best explained with a few typical examples.
Competition dates
(1) It can happen that the organisers decide to extend the application deadline or even
change the actual dates of the competition. Under extreme circumstances, the organisers
may even cancel the entire competition.
(2) The exact dates of some competitions are set very late. High-profile competitions are
scheduled years ahead (as can be seen from the calendars), but others first have to await
confirmation of sponsorship or the availability of the hall, orchestra and/or conductor. In
such a case, the organisers might decide to announce just the month or only the year in
which the competition is expected to take place.
(3) The competition is part of a festival, of which the entire period is announced, but from
this announcement it is not clear that participants in the competition may arrive later.
Other competitions stretch out over a long period, while the actual performances of
participants in the highest age category only take one or two days.
Every effort has been made to give consistent information in this catalogue, pertaining to
the highest age group or the main competition.
Age limits
(1) A 30-year old pianist is interested in a competition which is open to musicians "aged
between 15 and 30". Even when the participation conditions seem to be clear by stating
"under the age of 30 at the start of the competition", should we then write "up to 29" or
"up to 30" ...? Whether this pianist may participate or not, can only be answered with
certainty if the rules clearly state specific dates between which contestants must have been
born. Not all competitions are so precise. (It has actually happened that the organisers had
to double-check and solve an unclear situation even after the competition had started ...)
(2) When two successive age categories are announced as "up to 15" and "up to 18", the
organiser may allow a 13-year old pianist to take part in the second category, while
another organiser had implied "16-18" as the age limits for the second category.
Same person, different name ... same name, different person …
A totally different kind of confusion may occur when a pianist changes his name ... It has
happened that a pianist appears as a prize winner of various competitions under different
names. Keen competition followers who see photos of the prize winners, will then
recognise this pianist as being one and the same person. And it also happens that there are
two or three different pianists with the same name, even taking part in the same
competition! This can be very confusing.
50 | Piano Competitions Worldwide 2017