Conditions

IX International Piano competition in memoriam of Vera Lotar-Shevchenko (August 30st – September 11th 2025, Ekaterinburg)

Stipulations

  1. The procedure of applying
    1. The contest will be held in two age categories:
      • Junior age up to 19 (complete 18)
      • Primary contest (there’s no age limitations after 19 years of age)

    2. 1.2. The applicant must apply formally before and pass preliminary audition. We kindly ask you to send your application form with all required materials attached by e-mail to: lotarvera2022@gmail.com

      The application form must also contain:

      • copy of your passport (or birth certificate)
      • your photograph suitable for printing
      • reference from your place of study (please, specify the name of your high school and grade or special musical school and class, and some data about your teacher.)

      Video recording.

      The tape must meet the following requirements:

      • no editing
      • the programme of video recording must comply with the contest programme of preliminary audition

      The tape must also contain:

      • your name
      • nomination (for junior or primary completion)
      • titles of compositions in order of recording with designation of the keys (tonality)
      • timing
      • date of recording

      Please note the format:

      • for documents: pdf, doc, rtf, txt;
      • for archive: zip;
      • for video files: swf, flv, mpg;
      • for audio material: mp3

      Recording for primary competition must contain only solo works for piano:

      • one part of classical sonata
      • one virtuoso etude
      • one work of a French composer

      Please note: total record timing is 35 min.

      Recording for junior competition must contain only solo works for piano:

      • works from the programme of the I and II rounds by choice.

      Please note: total record timing is no more than 20 min.

    3. The decision on the admission to participation will be issued based on the results of preliminary audition. You will be informed by Organizing Committee before May 10th of 2025. All admitted to participation will receive an official invitation for the competition with vital logistic data.
    4. Documents and video recordings must be sent on time and fully set, otherwise Organizational Committee will not be able to take your application into consideration.
  2. The order of the competition
    1. Official invitations will be sent before June 10th 2025.
    2. Foreign participants are responsible for obtaining visas on the basis of official invitation. You can receive necessary assistance at Russian consulates overseas.
    3. Admitted participants should inform Organizing Committee on the exact time and date of arrival, flight or train and carriage number before August 10th 2025.
    4. The Competition auditions are carried out on:
      • Junior Comp consists of II rounds.
        • Performance of two solo renditions
      • Professional consists of III rounds.
        • two solo arrangements and one final piece with an orchestra

      All arrangements/performances will be conducted in public. All pieces should be learnt by heart.

    5. By the II round, the juniors will be narrowed down to 6 participants, the main competition to 12. For the main competition there will be 6 finalists.
    6. The list of participants will be drawn up before the I round and will remain unchanged until the end of the competition. All participants should be present at the initial assembly which will take place before the lot is drawn on the eve of the I round.
    7. Changes in the competitions program are unlikely.
  3. Financial Conditions
    1. During the registration process on arrival at the event there is an entrance fee of 100 dollars (to be paid via the Central Bank of Russia). Unless this fee is paid entrants will not be given an audition.

      There is no fee for entrants in the 'youth' category.

    2. In the case of rejection at the audition stage documents, video files and the entrance fee will not be returned.
    3. Winners of the main competition are obliged to perform for free at the final concert of the event.
    4. Participants in the competition will not receive any royalties for their performance or for any later usage of the recording or transmission of their performance. Rights to any audio or video recordings or to any radio transmission of the performances at the competition belong to the Organising Committee.
    5. The Organising Committee of the competition will provide:
      • Free board and lodging from the day of arrival, although not before the date shown on the invitation.
      • Group classes (of no less than 5 hours a day) and one rehearsal before each round, which will take place on the same stage as the 3rd round of the PRIMARY competition.
    6. The Organising Committee will not provide participants with any kind of insurance.
    7. The application, signed by the aspiring participant, will be taken as proof of their full agreement to these terms and conditions.
  4. Prizes
    1. The Organising Committee of the International Competition of Pianists in the Memory of Vera Lotar-Shevchenko will offer the following prizes:

      JUNIOR Competition:

      • 1st Prize – $1,500 (one thousand five hundred US Dollars)
      • 2nd Prize – $1,200 (one thousand two hundred US Dollars)
      • 3rd Prize - $1,000 (one thousand US Dollars)

      PRIMARY Competition:

      • 1st Prize - $10,000 (ten thousand US Dollars)
      • 2nd Prize - $7,500 (seven thousand five hundred US Dollars)
      • 3rd Prize - $5,000 (five thousand US Dollars)
    2. The judges of the competition reserve the right to divide or withhold any of the prizes.
    3. The judges' decision is final and no negotiations will be entered into.
    4. Cash prizes will be paid in Roubles via The Central Bank of Russia on the payment day.

PROGRAMME

JUNIOR Competition:

I Round

Duration of the performance to be no greater than 20 minutes.

  1. Choose one prelude and one fugue by the following composers: Bach, Taneyev, Shostakovich. (same composer for both prelude and fugue)
  2. Czerny, étude from the 740th Composition.
  3. One étude by the following composers: Chopin, Lizst, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff.
  4. A piece by a 19th or 20th century French composer.

II Round

  • Duration of the performance to be no greater than 30 minutes.
  • Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert classical sonata (1st movement).
  • A Romantic piece by a Western European composer.
  • A work by a composer from the entrant's own country, written after 1960.

PRIMARY Competition

I Round

  • Performance to be no longer than 45 minutes, not including pauses between the pieces. In the qualifying rounds of the competition video recordings of performances may be shown.
  • The selection and arrangement of the performance should be conducted by the entrant them self, and should include works of various styles as well as noteworthy compositions of the Pianoforte's repertoire.
  • Entrants' personal compositions may not be performed in this round of the competition.

II Round

  • Performance to be no longer than 60 minutes, not including pauses between the pieces (If the entrant wishes there may be a break of 3-5 minutes.)
  • The performance must include different styles (of which two are compulsory – a long, or one long and one medium composition, and a composition from 1960 onwards.)
  • The entrant's own composition may be performed.
  • Pieces from the first round may not be repeated.

III Round – Final

  • The finalist must perform two complete piano concerti accompanied by a symphony orchestra. One concerto must be chosen from group ‘A’, and one from group ‘B’. The conductor and orchestra are to be given instructions by the entrant.

Group ‘A’:

  1. Mozart. Any of his piano concerti (except KV.37,39,40,41 and 107)
  2. Beethoven.
    • Concerto No. 1 C major, composition 15
    • Concerto No. 2 B flat major, composition 19
    • Concerto No. 3 C minor, composition 37
    • Concerto No. 4 G major, composition 58
    • Concerto No. 5 E flat major, composition 73

Group ‘B’:

  1. Chopin. Concerto No. 1 E minor, composition 11.
  2. Liszt. Concerto No. 2 A major.
  3. Brahms. Concerto No.1 D minor, composition 15.
  4. Saint-Saëns. Concerto No.2 G minor, composition 22.
  5. Grieg. Concerto A minor.
  6. Tchaikovsky. Concerto No.2 G major, composition 44.
  7. Rachmaninoff. Concerto No.1 F sharp minor, composition 1.
  8. Scriabin. Concerto F sharp minor.
  9. Prokofiev. Concerto No.3 E major, composition 26.
  10. Ravel. Concerto G major.