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Guide to the Concours de Genève

Past winners: Where are they now?

CONCOURS DE GENÈVE - INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPETITION

Founded in 1939, the Geneva Competition is one of the world’s leading international music competitions. It aims at discovering, promoting and supporting young talented artists, giving them the necessary tools to launch an international career.

Geneva's multi-disciplinary approach is one of its most distinctive assets. Today, the Geneva Competition alternates between several main disciplines: piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, cello, viola, string quartet, voice and percussion. Every second year, it offers a Composition Prize.

In addition to its official prizes, Geneva offers a career development programme, providing precious support and advice to help boost laureates’ careers. The programme includes two years of concert management, as well as CD recordings, international tours, personal coaching, and professional workshops. More information here.

FLUTE COMPETITION 2023

Applications are accepted until April 20th on the Concours de Genève’s website (via muvac). Applicants must submit a video recording with a choice of three different works. The Screening Jury meets during the Spring to select the candidates (up to 40 flutists) who will take part in the Competition, which is held from 23 October – 4 November in Geneva, Switzerland. The Competition comprises of one preselection round and three official rounds. Flutists who progress to the Final Round perform with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.

STRING QUARTET COMPETITION 2023

Applications are accepted until April 20th on the Concours de Genève’s website (via muvac). Applicants must submit 2 video recordings with the programme of the video Preselection Round. Recordings are to be uploaded on YouTube, Vimeo or Youku. The Screening Jury meets during the Spring to select the candidates (up to 16 quartets) who will take part in the Competition, which is held from 23 October – 4 November in Geneva, Switzerland. The names of the selected quartets will be published on the competition website on 10 May 2023. Selected quartets will be notified personally and will receive further information regarding the next stages of the Competition, as well as technical specifications for the recording of their Online Recital. .

JURY MEMBERS

Flute Jury:

Silvia Careddu, Chair (Italy); Denis Bouriakov (USA); Magali Mosnier (France); Loïc Schneider (France); Seiya Ueno (Japan); Henrik Wiese (Germany); Hyeri Yoon (South Korea)

String Quartet Jury:

Corina Belcea, Chair (Romania); Stefan Fehlandt (Germany); Nobuko Imai (Japan); Gabriel Le Magadure (France); Christian Poltéra (Switzerland); Vineta Sareika (Latvia); Lydia Shelley (United Kingdom)

NEXT COMPETITION

2024 - Voice & Composition

Fact file
SectionsFlute, String quartet
Deadline17 Jan - 20 Apr 2023
Finals29 Oct - 04 Nov 2023
WhereGeneva, Switzerland
Age groupsFlutists born after 4 November 1993 & string quartets whose members are born after 29 October 1988. The cumulative age of all quartet members should not exceed 120 years.

CANDIDATES

  • Flute 2023: open to candidates born after 4 November 1993 (30 years old);
  • String quartet 2023: open to all string quartets whose members are born after 29 October 1988 (the cumulative age of all the members should not exceed 120 years).

OFFICIAL PRIZES - FLUTE 2023

1st Prize - CHF 20'000
2nd Prize - CHF 12'000
3rd Prize - CHF 8'000

SPECIAL PRIZES – FLUTE 2023

  • Audience Prize: CHF 1,500.-  
  • Young Audience Prize: CHF 1,000.-
  • Students Prize: CHF 1,000.-

& several other special prizes (to be published soon)

OFFICIAL PRIZES - STRING QUARTET 2023

1st Prize: CHF 20,000.-
2nd Prize: CHF 12,000.-
3rd Prize: CHF 8,000.-

SPECIAL PRIZES – STRING QUARTET 2023

  • Audience Prize: CHF 1,500.-  
  • Young Audience Prize: CHF 1,000.-
  • Students Prize: CHF 1,000.-

& other special prizes to be published soon

CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

In addition to its official prizes, the Concours de Genève offers a career development programme, providing precious support and advice to help boost laureates' careers and define their artistic identity. The programme includes two years of concert management by Sartory Artists, as well as recordings, international tours, personal coaching and professional workshops. 

PREVIOUS PRIZEWINNERS

Prizewinners include: Martha Argerich (1957), Arturo Benedetti-Michelangeli (1939), Victoria De Los Angeles (1947), Emmanuel Pahud (1992)… For recent laureates click here.

Important dates - Flute 2023
  • 2-4 May: Flute preselection round (video)
  • 10 July: deadline for submitting online recital videos
  • 11-17 September: Flute online recital web broadcast 
  • 30 October – 2 November: Flute Semi-Final (Geneva) 
  • 4 November: Flute Final (Geneva)
Important dates - Composition 2022

  • 8-9 May: String Quartet preselection round (video)
  • 10 July: deadline for submitting online recital videos
  • 18-20 September: String Quartet online recital web broadcast 
  • 24-27 October: String Quartet Semi-Final (Geneva) 
  • 29 October: String Quartet Final (Geneva)

Listen to previous winners