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We are excited to announce a series of exciting new changes to the 2023 competition. Make sure you read everything carefully!
What's new in 2023
- Age Groups: There will be five total age groups this year with no separate “Professional” and “Amateur divisions.
- In-Person Final Round option: There will be a new in-person option for Final Round this year in New York City.
- New Time Limits: We’ve increased the time limit for Group A (ages 7 and under), Group B (ages 8 – 9), and Group C (ages 10 – 12) to allow more freedom of repertoire choices.
- Grand Final Spots: We’ve increased the number of available grand finalists spots to a maximum of 8 grand finalists for Group A – B, and a maximum of 6 grand finalists for Group C – E.
Eligibility
- The Piano Star International Competition is open to pianists of any nationalities ages 18 and under.
- Applicants studying with any of the Grand Final judges are NOT eligible to apply.
- Applicants studying with any of the Final Round judges are eligible to apply, but will not receive votes/scores from their teacher.
- Previous Gold Medalists from the former Professional Division (all groups) and Amateur Division Group A & B are not eligible to apply to the same age group. However, they are eligible to compete in an older age group.
- Previous Gold Medalists of Amateur Division Group C – E are allowed to compete in the new consolidated Group C – E.
Important Dates
- September 24th, 2023: Early Bird Preliminary Round Application Deadline
- October 22nd, 2023: Preliminary Round Application Deadline
- October 29th, 2023: Notification of Finalist Selection
- November 3rd, 2023: Final Round Application Deadline
- November 18- 19, 2023: Final Round
- November 20th, 2023: Notification of Grand Finalist Selection
- December 9th, 2023: Grand Final Video Submission Deadline
- December 16th-17th, 2023: Grand Finals Broadcast
- June 30th, 2024, 7:30 pm: Carnegie Hall Winners Concert
Competition Fees
- Early Bird Preliminary Round Application fee: $60 USD
- Preliminary Round Application fee: $80 USD
- Final Round fee for finalists choosing to play Virtually on Zoom: $120 USD
- Final Round fee for finalists choosing to play In-Person in NYC: $140 USD
- There are no additional fees to participate in the Grand Final Round.
- There are no fees to participate in the Carnegie Hall Winners Concert for the Gold Medalists of each group in the Grand Final Round. For eligibility and fees for other prizewinners, check the prizes page for details.
AGE GROUPS
There are five age groups in the competition. Age requirements apply to the applicant’s age as of December 17, 2023.
- Group A (ages 7 and under)
- Group B (ages 8-9)
- Group C (ages 10-12)
- Group D (ages 13-15)
- Group E (ages 16-18)
Preliminary Round (Video Recording)
- Applicants must submit a video recording of their performance.
- Each piece must be recorded continuously and unedited.
- Video(s) are adjudicated privately by a panel of Preliminary Round judges.
- The camera should be at a fixed position and viewed horizontally.
- Preferably, the contestant’s entire body and the keyboard should be visible at all times.
- If full-body angle is not possible, please make sure at least the upper body and the keyboard remain visible at all times.
Examples:
selection of finalists
- After the preliminary round videos are reviewed, each contestant will receive a PL Star Score up to a perfect score of 10.0. The judges will consider the following definitions when giving their scores.
• 9.5 – 10.0 = High Distinction
• 9.0 – 9.4 = Distinction
• 8.0 – 8.9 = Merit
• 6.0 – 7.9 = Pass - Judges give their scores based on the contestant’s overall piano skills, which includes but not limited to: technique, musicality, rhythm, tempo, tone color, accuracy, styles, voicing, and much more.
- All contestants will receive their scores via email. A Star Score only contains the numerical score – no comments are added.
- All applicants who receive a PL Star Score of 8.0 or above will advance to the Final Round.
Final Round (In-Person or virtual)
- Applicants can choose to perform either virtually on Zoom or in-person in New York City, USA.
- In-person Final Round judges are different from the virtual Final Round judges. For details on how grand finalists are selected between the two locations, please see below “Selection of Grand Finalists”.
- Minimum Group Size: Please note that a minimum of 5 contestants is required for an in-person group to be valid. If fewer than 5 contestants choose the in-person option for a specific age group, that group will be combined with the virtual group and the contestant must perform virtually on Zoom or withdraw from the competition.
- A new PL Star Score will be calculated based on the average of the scores given by the Final Round judges.
- Contestants will receive verbal comments from one or more judges immediately after their performances.
in-person Final Round LOCATION
New York City, USA:
OPERA America Rehearsal Hall
330 7th Ave 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Selection of Grand Finalists (NEW)
Selection for the Grand Finals will be based on a combination of score and percentile rank within each age group (virtual or in-person). Participants must achieve a minimum score and be within a high percentile of performers in their age group (virtual or in-person) to be considered for the Grand Finals.
- Minimum Score Threshold: Regardless of locations (virtual or in-person), contestants must achieve a minimum Final Round PL Star Score of 8.5 to be considered for the Grand Finals.
- Minimum Percentile Rank: Alongside the score threshold, contestants must be within the top 20% of contestants in their respective age groups (virtual or in-person).
- Grand Finalist Cap: After applying these criteria, the number of Grand Finalists from each location (virtual & in-person) will be determined proportionally based on the total number of eligible contestants in each age group. The cap for each age group will remain as follows:
Group A-B: Up to 8 contestants, as determined by percentile rank and score within their age group & location (virtual or in-person), will advance to the Grand Finals.
Group C-E: Up to 6 contestants, as determined by percentile rank and score within their age group & location (virtual or in-person), will advance to the Grand Finals.
Please note that the above thresholds are the MINIMUM required to be considered for the Grand Finals. Achieving these thresholds does not guarantee a spot in the Grand Final Round. Depending on the number of contestants, one may need a much higher score and percentile rank to advance to the Grand Final Round.
This system ensures that all Grand Finalists meet a certain standard of performance and that each location, whether virtual or in-person, is fairly represented in the Grand Finals. We encourage applicants to make the best decision based on their preferences and availability, keeping in mind that the in-person competition will require travel to the designated location. Both virtual and in-person competitions will be judged using the same criteria, ensuring a balanced and equitable assessment for all.
GRAND FINAL Round (New video to be broadcasted and viewed live by the judges)
- All Grand Finalists will make a verifiably new video recording after the Final Round.
- Verification methods will be provided to the Grand Finalists immediately following the notification of the Final Round results.
- Failure to verify that the video is newly recorded will result in disqualification.
- Grand Finalists will not be given a Star Score, but will instead be ranked by the three judges who watch each performance live.
- For an example of how the Grand Final Round is typically run, you can check out our 2022 Grand Finals here.
Transparency & Fairness
- All votes and/or score by each individual judge from the Final Round and Grand Final Round will be published on our website.
- We do not publish scores from the Preliminary Round due to the bigger variance in contestant scores. We want to pursue transparency while respecting younger contestants who may be participating the competition for the very first time.
ADDITIONAL ruLES
- Only ONE entry per contestant is allowed.
- Contestants should be dressed semi-formal or formal for all rounds.
- The judges’ decisions are final. There will be no changes to the results after the announcements are made.
- Should a contestant/teacher/parent violate any of the rules and regulations, and/or shows inappropriate behavior towards judges, the competition organizing committee reserves the right to disqualify the contestant and the application fee will not be refunded.
- We reserve the right to record performances in all rounds and use all video submissions for marketing purposes. No fee will be paid to the participants.
- We reserve the right to the interpretation of the Rules and Regulations.
- We reserve the right to cancel an age group should there be insufficient number of applicants. If this happens, application fees will be refunded.
- We only partner with reputable sponsors, and have obtained written agreements from those who generously sponsor prizes and scholarships to our winners. However, we are NOT responsible or liable for any breach of agreement by our partners and their actions after the competition, which include, but not limited to, unfulfilled scholarships and awards, extended delays, and fraud.
Prizes
- For a complete list of prizes for all rounds, click here.
