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The Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition

3rd Edition
Katowice 2027

Applications open for the performance categories: 

1 November 2026

About Competition
Organiser
Co-organisers and co-financed by
Organiser
Co-organisers and co-financed by
Organiser
Co-organisers and co-financed by

The Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition offers an exceptional opportunity for outstanding young artists

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A chance to launch a career with real momentum. A chance to gain international recognition. And a chance to win a prestigious prize. The Competition is held in four performance categories – piano, violin, string quartet and voice – as well as a composition category. Across different styles, traditions and the participants’ individual artistic sensibilities, the many worlds of Szymanowski shine through. The composer’s oeuvre opens up a wealth of interpretative possibilities, while the Competition encourages not only artistic excellence in performance but also the search for an individual artistic voice.

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Competition Schedule

Competition announced
2026
28.05
Applications open for the performance categories
2026-2027
1.11.2026–31.01.2027
Applications open for the composition category
2027
1.01–30.04
Composition category results announced
2027
30.06
Voice auditions
2027
1–7.09
Violin auditions
2027
4–12.09
String Quartet auditions
2027
8–15.09
Piano auditions
2027
10–18.09
Final Gala and Prize-winners’ Concert
2027
19.09

News

From place to place and from style to style Karol Szymanowski was a straussian romantic, an expressive impressionist and a folklorist – each of them at a different moment
Karol Szymanowski

From place to place and from style to style Karol Szymanowski was a straussian romantic, an expressive impressionist and a folklorist – each of them at a different moment

That did not, however necessitate searching for a language – as for a language, he had always been a master of his own one, enabling him to say exactly what he wanted to say. The journey was more one of constant search for inspirations and challenges, ways of reaching perfection suitable at a given moment
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The Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition could only have been created here.
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The Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition could only have been created here.

It is in Katowice that a unique combination of factors comes together, transforming a city once associated primarily with coal mining into one that is now widely recognised as an inexhaustible source of artistic talent.
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