The Preliminaries to the 19th Chopin Competition have begun!

Today, at 10 a.m., in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic, a pianist from Japan began the Preliminaries for the 19th Chopin Competition with his recital. Until May 4, we will hear more than 160 pianists performing approximately 30-minute recitals, the program of which will include the etudes, nocturnes, scherzos and mazurkas of Fryderyk Chopin listed in the Rules of the event. 

China, Japan, South Korea, Poland and the United States will be the most represented countries during the Preliminaries. We will also hear representatives from countries as distant as Brazil, Malaysia, Tajikistan, Thailand and Uzbekistan.

The schedule and recital programs can be found on the XIX Chopin Competition website: chopincompetition.pl/en/calendar.

Auditions are held in two sessions: 

• morning: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (12-12:30 p.m. - break).
• evening session: 5 - 9 p.m. (7-7:30 p.m. - break). 

Last tickets are still available at tickets.nifc.pl. Prior to each session, tickets will also be available for purchase at the box office of the Warsaw Philharmonic for PLN 20.  

The preliminaries can also be watched live on the Competition website, Facebook and the official channel of the Chopin Institute on YouTube. The auditions are also broadcast on Polish Radio Chopin.

Participants will be judged by the Preliminaries Jury, consisting of: Piotr Paleczny (chairman), Ludmil Angelov, Nikolai Demidenko, Krzysztof Jablonski, Kevin Kenner, Marc Laforêt, Alberto Nosè, Ewa Poblocka, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń and Wojciech Świtała. The list of pianists and pianists qualified for the Chopin Competition in October will be published on the Competition's website by May 9, 2025.