96 composers from 31 countries apply for this year's Bartók World Competition

This year's Bartók World Competition, which offers a total prize of €10,000, was open to composers under 40 years of age until 23 August 2022. From works having been submitted a compulsory piece will be chosen by the international jury for the next instrumental round of the Bartók World Competition, i. e. the violinists' competition in 2023. Winning compositions will be performed for the first time on 26 November 2022 at a gala concert open to the public in Solti Hall of Liszt Academy.

The largest number of entries was received from the United States (11) and Hungary (9), with several entries from Russia, China, Korea, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, France, the Visegrad Region, Israel, Japan, Australia, Armenia, Iran, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, among others. It is interesting to note that two candidates submitted 2 works each, and for the first time in the history of the competition, there is a Venezuelan composer, too.

Gyula Fekete, Head of Department for Composition and Vice-President of Liszt Academy, is the Artistic Director of the competition’s composer rounds and sits on the pre-selection panel alongside renowned teachers from the university. The works they select will be judged by a prestigious international jury, chaired by world-renowned American composer John Corigliano and including Unsuk Chin, a renowned South Korean composer based in Germany and professor at Harvard University, Russian composer and pianist Kuzma Bodrov, professor at the Gnessin Academy and Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and, the above mentioned Gyula Fekete as well as world-renowned Hungarian violinist Kristóf Baráti, Head of Department at Liszt Academy.

The competition is unique as it is built on the most characteristic aspects of Bartók's oeuvre: violin, piano and chamber music as well as composition, and is held in six-years cycles. In even-numbered years between the instrumental competitions, the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music organises composition competitions, and the international jury selects winning works to be included in the repertoire of the next instrumental competition.