June 5-9, 2024 (CLOSED)

Rules and Regulations

 1. Eligibility

The BPAA Competition is open to pianists of all nationalities above the age of 30 as of the first day of the competition (first day of the preliminaries). 

To be eligible, applicants must not derive their principal source of income from public performances or piano teaching.

The 2024 Boston International Piano Competition will consist of two “streams”, Gold and Silver, The Gold Stream will consist of three rounds: Preliminaries, Semifinals, and Finals, similar to our previous competitions. The Silver Stream will consist of two rounds: Preliminaries and Finals

2. Prizes

There will be cash prizes as follows:

GOLD STREAM

Grand Prize: The Grand Prize shall consist of a cash prize of $2,000 and a fully managed recital concert in Boston. Arrangements for the concert date will be made between the winner and BPAA’s Competition Director. 

Cash Awards: 

2nd Prize: $1000 

3rd Prize: $500 

SILVER STREAM

Cash Awards:

1st Prize: $500

2nd Prize: $250

3rd Prize: $125

Additional awards of $100 each will be given for Best Baroque, Best Classical, Best Romantic, and Best Modern/Contemporary performances.

3. Application

Applicants must complete and submit the Application Form no later than the application deadline, April 1, 2024. An application that does not include all of the required materials will be considered invalid. The links to both PayPal and the application form will be disabled when the maximum number of competitors has been reached.

4. Required Application Materials

The following materials should be submitted within the Application Form:

1. One (1) digital photo of the applicant, head and shoulder, suitable for publication in the competition program, website and/or for publicity purposes, uploaded with the online application form.  Please ensure the photo has been cropped correctly, is of at least 500x500 resolution, and is in black and white. Submission of the photo indicates the applicant’s permission for its use by BPAA.

2. A biography not to exceed 600 characters submitted within the online application form. The bio is intended for the competition program. BPAA reserves the right to edit it for consistency. Please ensure the text has been checked for spelling and grammatical correctness.

3. A PDF or JPEG copy of the applicant’s driver’s license, birth certificate or passport that clearly displays the applicant’s date of birth to establish the applicant’s age.

4. If the applicant has not previously participated in our competition or another international amateur piano competition, or is otherwise unknown to our organization, please provide a link to YouTube, Dropbox or other internet-based service to which a video of an example of the applicant’s piano performance can be viewed. The video must be of sufficient quality that the applicant can be clearly identified and it must be no longer than 10 minutes in duration. It must be of sufficient length to show the performance of at least one piece in the piano literature, preferably from the Baroque, Classical or Romantic era. A single movement from a larger work is acceptable.

5. A list of the repertoire for all competition phases, submitted within the online application form, which identifies:

             ● the composer’s last name

             ● the exact title and movement (if applicable) of each work (including opus number or equivalent)

             ● the exact length of each work when performed by the applicant

   When choosing repertoire, the total time duration must not exceed the time allotted for the specific round.

   Please use the following formatting style -- example:

   Chopin, Nocturne in Db Major, Op. 27 No. 2

   Please capitalize Major (for example: C Major), but lower case letter for minor (for example: C minor)

   For composers please use last name only, followed by a comma.

   Exceptions: Bach for J.S.Bach, otherwise specify C.P.E Bach, etc. Schumann for Robert Schumann, otherwise specify Clara Schumann

   The applicant should be mindful of time needed for set-up, pauses between pieces, and time needed to depart from the stage. Round timing limits will be strictly enforced.

6. Payment of the application fee via the PayPal link.  Alternatively, payment can be made with an international money order, or check made out to "Boston Piano Amateurs,” in the amount of three hundred U.S. dollars ($350.00). Payment must be received no later than April 1, 2024. Payment can be sent to:

   
   Boston Piano Amateurs Association
   25 Tomahawk Drive
   Northborough, MA 01532

   The fee for an accepted application is non-refundable.

The BPAA Competition Director reserves the right to request additional information from applicants.

A response e-mail will acknowledge receipt of the supplied documents and acceptance of the application (provided the application fee is also received by the April 1, 2024 deadline).

5. Competition Rounds

The Competition will have two streams: Gold and Silver.

The Gold Stream will have three rounds: the preliminary round, the semi-final, and the finals.

The Silver Stream will have two rounds: the preliminary round and the finals. 

A maximum of 40 pianists will be admitted to the Competition on a first-come, first-served basis. 

The number of contestants in the Silver Stream proceeding to the finals and the number of semifinalists and finalists in the Gold Stream will be at the discretion of the jury.

The schedule of the performances of the contestants at the different rounds will be at the discretion of the organizational committee. Please note that per the request of the jury, the silver stream preliminaries will all be scheduled on Thursday afternoon sometime between noon and 6 pm.

All performances are open to the general public. 

The decisions of the jury are final.

6. Repertoire requirements

The program performed may not exceed certain time limits:

Gold Stream

Preliminary round: 15 minutes 

Semi-finals: 15 minutes 

Finals: 30 minutes

Silver Stream

Preliminary round: 15 minutes 

Finals: 15 minutes

The contestant may choose to play one or more pieces during each round. 

The works prepared for the Competition do not need to be performed from memory.

No works may be repeated in subsequent rounds.  It is recommended that the contestant present a balanced repertoire, reflecting a variety of musical styles, periods, and composers. Contestants should perform classical piano music from several different genres and periods such as baroque, classical, romantic, impressionist, modern or contemporary. 

Separate movements of larger works will be accepted but must be performed in their entirety.

If a contestant will perform a work by a lesser-known composer, and in particular, a contemporary work, they must provide 5 copies of the score for the jury. 

7. Performance Rights

All contestants give up the rights to their performances during the competition to the Boston Piano Amateurs Association, who reserve the right to make it available on CD, DVD, YouTube, or other digital media without compensation, or as part of BPAA publicity in the media.