São Paulo – Morocco’s Association Les Amitiés Musicales is accepting entries for the 13th International Piano Competition Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem, and the Embassy of Brazil in Rabat is offering a prize for best performance of a piece by a Brazilian composer.
Pianists from anywhere in the world and aged 10 to 32 are eligible. Entries will be accepted through July 31 from younger musicians, and through September 1 from more experienced ones. Accepted entrants will get free accommodation at a hotel in downtown Rabat.
The contest will be divided into two categories: Young Pianists and Virtuosity. Competitors in the Young Pianists category will be divided by age into six subcategories: 10-13 (two groups); 18 or younger (two groups); and the Superior and Excellence categories for players 25 and younger.
The Virtuosity category is intended for pianists aged 32 or younger. Entries for the Superior, Excellence and Virtuosity categories end in September; all others end in late July. Registration fees range from MAD 500 to 600 (USD 52.5-USD 63).
The contest will run from September 1 to 8 and auditions will be held at the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, in Rabat. Finalists in the Virtuosity category will play a recital on September 7, and the award ceremony will take place on September 8.
Each competitor in the first four levels of the Young Pianists category will play one Compulsory and one of three Free Choice pieces chosen by the contest. Superior and Excellence competitors will play one Compulsory and one Free Choice piece in an assigned musical genre. There are Compulsory pieces by Beethoven, Haendel, Bach and Scarlatti.
Virtuosity candidates will perform three compositions each, including two selected by the organizers and one major work of the Romantic repertoire for piano solo (free choice).
The competition includes works by Brazilian composers Almeida Prato, Cláudio Santoro and Villa-Lobos. Candidates can choose to play them in their first performances. The Special Prize from the Embassy of Brazil will award EUR 600 to the best performance of a piece by a Brazilian composer in the Virtuosity category.
The jury will be presided over by the Brazilian pianist pianista Myrian Dauelsberg, according to the contest’s website. The holder of a PhD in Musicology from Sorbonne University and a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Dauelsberg is one of Brazil’s leading authorities in classical music.
The contest is held by Morocco’s Association Les Amitiés Musicales, with backing from the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco. Several cash prizes will be awarded to winners in different categories and levels, starting at MAD 500, including prizes from other embassies and local and international organizations.
The Grand Prize Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem is MAD 4,000. The contest and prize are named after the eldest daughter of now-deceased king Hassan <I> and his second wife, Lalla Latifa Hammou. Lalla Meryem is the sister of Morocco’s reigning king Mohammed VI. The contest was last held in 2016 and the Grand Prize winner was Morocco’s Nour Ayadi (pictured above).
Check out the contest’s website for additional information.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
