12 days of Preliminaries for the 19th Chopin Competition are behind us!

Today, at 8 PM in the Chamber Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic, the last participant of the Preliminaries for the 19th Chopin Competition performed. After their recital, the Jury, chaired by Professor Piotr Paleczny, began deliberations. In just two days (May 6, 2025), we will find out which pianists will return to Warsaw in less than five months to compete for the title of winner of the 19th Chopin Competition. 

The Preliminaries took place at the Warsaw Philharmonic from 23 April to 4 May, 2025. They gathered as many as 162 pianists from 28 countries. Each participant performed a recital of about 30 minutes, which included selected études, mazurkas, nocturnes, and scherzos by Fryderyk Chopin. The Jury listened to over 81 hours of performances and 810 different interpretations of Chopin’s works in total! 

During the Preliminaries, the most frequently played piece was the Scherzo in E major, Op. 54, chosen by 51 performers. The Étude in A-flat major, Op. 10 No. 10 appeared in the programs of 40 participants. The Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1 was performed 33 times. Among the mazurkas, the most popular was the Mazurka in B minor, Op. 33 No. 4, played 32 times. 

The results of the Preliminary stage will be announced at a press conference on 6 May at 10:30 AM. The event will be broadcast on the Fryderyk Chopin Institute’s Facebook page and on the Chopin Institute’s YouTube channel. The list of pianists will also be available on the official Chopin Competition website: chopincompetition.pl 

The 19th Chopin Competition will officially begin on 2 October 2025, with an inaugural concert. The auditions in October will last for three weeks. On 20 October, we will learn who the new winner is—someone who, like their predecessors, will have the chance to make history in the world of piano music. The award ceremony and the first of three laureates’ concerts will take place the following day. 

The Chopin Competition is organized by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.