Revival of the Rachmaninoff Competition

From June 14 to June 27, 2022, Moscow will host the First International Competition for Pianists, Conductors and Composers named after S.V. Rachmaninoff. The initiative to revive this competition in an expanded format belongs to the Russian pianist Denis Matsuev.

The competition will be held in three main concert halls of Moscow. Pianists will perform in the Great Hall of the Conservatory. The Tchaikovsky Hall will host conductors. The venue for the composers’ competition will be the Rachmaninoff Concert Hall at the Philharmonic-2. The patronage of the piano competition will be carried out by Denis Matsuev, the conductors’ competition by Valery Gergiev, and the composers’ competition by Alexander Tchaikovsky.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova has been appointed chair of the organizing committee of the competition with a total prize fund of $200,000. The committee includes Yuri Bashmet, Valery Gergiev, Denis Matsuev, Valery Polyansky, Valery Pyasetsky, Sergei Roldugin, Vladimir Fedoseev and representatives of state bodies and cultural institutions.

The renewed Rachmaninoff Competition will be held once in four years. Thus, as Denis Matsuev jokingly noted, it will alternate with the Tchaikovsky International Competition same as “the Olympic Games and the World Cup.”

The jury is waiting for applications until April 1, 2022, and the organizers of the competition look forward to discover new names among pianists, conductors and composers.