2025 Fourth Olga Kern International Piano Competition Application Requirements
The in-person rounds of the 2025 Olga Kern International Piano Competition will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, from October 12 to October 19, 2025. The Competition is open to pianists of all nationalities who will be between the ages of 18 and 32 on October 20, 2025. Participation in the Competition is conditional upon a candidate submitting the required documents for consideration by June 15, 2025. Applications open February 1, 2025, and can be accessed here.
Application
Competition Application
Fee: $220, plus a $30 application fee, for a total of $250 (if submitted by 11:59 p.m., EST, June 15, 2025)
Application Review: Incomplete applications will not be accepted. Submitted materials will not be returned. Candidates’ documents and recordings will be assessed by the Screening Jury. The Screening Jury will admit 20 contestants to compete in the First Round, which will be held in person starting October 13, 2025, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The list of invited candidates will be announced and made public by July 15, 2025.
Application Video Recording Requirements: An unedited recording of the applicant must be submitted to the Piano Competition Office as follows:
- The recording must be of excellent technical quality and preferably recorded professionally.
- The applicant’s face and hands must be clearly visible throughout the recording.
- The recording must have been made within 12 months of the submission of the application.
- Minimum duration is 40 minutes. Maximum duration is 50 minutes.
- Only solo piano works will be accepted.
- The recording must be unedited. Postproduction handling that affects the acoustic quality of the recording (such as bias, equalization, and noise reduction) is permitted, but must be stated.
- The recording must be clearly and visibly labeled showing the applicant’s full name and the details of where and when it was made.
- You may include recordings from public performances or a recording studio.
- Each individual work must be recorded in one unedited take. The works, however, may have been recorded on different dates.
- Do not include titles, fade-outs, or video transitions.
Required Repertoire for Video Recording Application:
- One Bach Prelude and Fugue from Books I or II of The Well-Tempered Clavier
- One etude by the following: Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin
- One of the sonatas by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven
- One piece of the competitor’s choice
Each composition should be performed in full. No individual movements will be permitted.
Required Repertoire
- One Bach Prelude and Fugue from Books I or II of The Well-Tempered Clavier
- One etude by the following: Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin
- One of the sonatas by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven
- One piece of the contestant’s choice
Each composition should be performed in full. No individual movements will be permitted.
October 12–19, 2025 (Albuquerque, NM, USA)
First Round (45 min. total):
- One prelude and fugue by J.S. Bach (chosen from either book of The Well-Tempered Clavier), or two contrasting sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti.
- Two contrasting etudes chosen from the following composers:
- Frédéric Chopin
- Franz Liszt
- Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Alexander Scriabin
- Claude Debussy
- Sergei Prokofiev
- Karol Szymanowski
- György Ligeti
- One sonata by Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or Ludwig van Beethoven (excluding Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier”).
- One short piece by Rachmaninoff chosen from the following:
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- Transcriptions
- Preludes Op. 23 or Op. 32
- Pieces Op. 3 or Op. 10
- Polka de W.R.
Second Round (60 min. total):
- Work(s) of contestant’s choice.
- Required piece written specifically for the Olga Kern International Piano Competition (5-6 minutes long), sent to contestants two months prior to the Competition
SEMIFINAL ROUND – CHAMBER MUSIC
Piano quintet of contestant’s choice from the following:
Brahms: Piano Quintet in f minor, Op. 34
Dvořák: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81, B. 155
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Franck: Piano Quintet in f minor
FINAL ROUND
Everything must be performed from memory and all printed repeats must be taken.
Contestant’s choice of one of the following concerti for piano and orchestra:
Béla Bartók: Piano Concerti Nos. 2 or 3
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerti Nos. 3, 4, or 5
Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerti Nos. 1 or 2
Frédéric Chopin: Piano Concerti Nos. 1 or 2
George Gershwin: Concerto in F
Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto in a minor
Franz Liszt: Piano Concerti Nos. 1 or 2
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerti Nos. 1, 2, or 3
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerti Nos. 1, 2, or 3, or Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major
Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in a minor
Alexander Scriabin: Piano Concerto in f-sharp minor
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerti Nos. 1 or 2