Two Belgian pianists selected among 70 candidates for Queen Elisabeth Competition
Two pianists will represent Belgium at this year's Queen Elisabeth Competition. Valère Burnon and Roeland Vermeulen are among the 70 candidates selected for the 21st edition of the competition dedicated to the piano.
The 70 pianists were selected from a total of 289 candidates aged between 18 and 31. Valère Burnon and Roeland Vermeulen, both born in 1998, are the only two Belgians in the selection. Most of the selected pianists are Chinese or South Korean.
The candidates had to record a video of themselves playing a fugue from Bach's The Art of Fugue BWV 1080, a sonata by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert, an etude by Chopin and a work of their choice for solo piano. The selection was made behind closed doors by an international jury.
Founded in 1937, the Queen Elisabeth Competition focuses on a different discipline each year. At last year's edition, dedicated to the violin, the Ukrainian musician Dmytro Udovychenko won the first prize of 25,000 euros.
The candidates selected for the 2025 edition will take part in the first round at the Flagey building in Brussels from 5 to 10 May. During this round, they will perform works or fragments of works chosen by the jury from a number of prepared works. The semi-finals will take place from 12 to 17 May at the same location.
The winner will be chosen during the final, which will take place from 26 to 31 May at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, accompanied by the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra. The final concerts of the event will take place in June.
The upcoming competition will be the first edition dedicated to piano in front of a live audience since 2016. The previous edition was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 and was later postponed to 2021, without a live audience, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
© BELGA PHOTO LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ
Related news
