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Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition is an opportunity for outstanding young artists. An opportunity to broaden the scope and increase the momentum of their career. An opportunity to get international recognition and to win a great prize.

The competition takes place every five years in four performing disciplines: piano, violin, string quartet and voice. The fifth, special category is the composing competition, taking place a year ahead of the performing competition.

In each category, the participants are judged by a jury made up of the most outstanding personalities of the musical world and listened to by influential critics, agents, media, and warmly supportive audiences. The total prize money of nearly 300,000 € as well as guaranteed record issues and invitations to perform in concerts mean that winning the competition might become a transformative moment in each participant’s life.

The repertoire, selected with great consideration, encourages one to discover music, moving beyond canons and fossilized habits. It is a tribute to the phenomenon of Karol Szymanowski and other exquisite artists, ones equally uncompromising as him. It is a tribute to music as the spiritual language of the whole humanity.

The participants find great allies in the amazing concert halls of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, boasting unique acoustic properties. Another factor of no mean significance is the unique atmosphere of Katowice, a city bustling with surprises and contrasts, successfully redefining its post-industrial identity through music.

The competition is organised by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport; the City of Katowice; Polish Radio; Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice; and the Karol Szymanowski Music Society in Zakopane.

Director

Director

Ewa Bogusz-Moore

Director

Ewa Bogusz-Moore

Ewa Bogusz-Moore – general director of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice. In April 2019 she was invited to join the European Concert Hall Organization.


She started her musical career as a cellist. Before taking the position in NOSPR Ewa Bogusz-Moore acted as a deputy director at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute where she was entrusted with developing the strategy of promoting Polish classical music throughout the world. Her business model of the “Polska Music” programme encouraged international cooperation, e.g. with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, Berliner Philharmoniker, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House, or Cité de la Musique. On behalf of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, she coordinated the celebrations of Witold Lutosławski’s Year and was the manager of I, CULTURE Orchestra, an educational orchestral project supporting development in Eastern Europe.


Ewa simultaneously combines orchestral management, creating and supporting musical projects with prominent organizations around the world. Her passion for the transformative power of arts together with business acumen allows her to deliver effective programs across the arts and education sectors.

Honorary Committee

Honorary Committee

Sir Simon Rattle

Honorary Committee

Sir Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Rattle was born in Liverpool and studied at the Royal Academy of Music.

For some years Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, in 1980 he became Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, stepping up to Music Director from September 1990 until August 1998.  He is also Founding Patron of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and since the early 1990s, has been a Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

In September 2002 Sir Simon became Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker, where he remained until June 2018.

In September 2017, Simon took up the position of Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Composition

The composition competition is a tribute to Karol Szymanowski, a great master craftsman of composing, who could use his art to lead a spiritual dialogue with the world of current affairs, simultaneously creating works of timeless value. Such are the works we are awaiting: ones belonging to the current times and universal, touching upon matters of significance for us today, simultaneously reaching beyond the horizon of this-worldiness.

We await works in one of the four disciplines: piano, violin, voice, or string quartet. The composition competition takes place a year ahead of the performing competition so as to enable the inclusion of the winning pieces as obligatory in its repertoire.

The rules will be available soon.

In addition to being awarded monetary prizes, the winning pieces will be published and included in the repertoire of the performing competition in 2023. Furthermore, all the prize-winning compositions will be recorded and published on a CD.

The prizes for the awarded compositions in the piano, violin and voice disciplines:
1st prize      3,000 €
2nd prize    2,000 €
3rd prize     1,000 €

The prizes for the awarded compositions in the string quartet discipline:
1st prize       4,000 €
2nd prize     3,000 €
3rd prize      2,000 €

 

30.09.2022 deadline for entries
31.10.2022 announcement of the results of the competition

 

Violin

In Karol Szymanowski’s music, the violin is a symbol of friendship and love. The composer was a long-time close friend of the ingenious virtuoso Paweł Kochański, who became a professor at the New York Juilliard School after leaving Poland. Kochański inspired Szymanowski and accompanied him on his way to creating his two phenomenal violin concertos.

Love was what Szymanowski felt for his ‘chosen people’, as he would call the Górale people of the Podhale region. It is the violin that reflects the echoes of their music best. The Karol Szymanowski competition searches for violinists who are able to express the sense of such love and friendship best.

The rules will be available soon.

The winners will receive high monetary prizes and the title of a laureate will surely open up new artistic opportunities before them.

1st prize      25,000 €
2nd prize    18,000 €
3rd prize     10,000 €

Special prize for the best performance of a piece by Karol Szymanowski: 6,000 €.

Honourable mention for the best accompanying pianist: 2,000 €.

The repertoire of the competition is built around works from the greatest revolutionaries, which is why it begins with Beethoven. In each of the stages, the participants can choose between the greatest violinistic masterpieces and multiple hidden gems.

The full repertoire will be available soon.

31.01.2023 deadline for entries
1.03.2023 announcement of the list of participants who have qualified for the competition
4.09.2023 performance order draw
5–7.09.2023 1st stage
9–10.09.2023 2nd stage
16,20.09.2023 final
22.09.2023 laureates' concert

 

Piano

Is it possible to imagine Karol Szymanowski’s world without the piano? Absolutely not! The piano was his confidant and inseparable companion at times of creative reveries. It was the instrument which enabled him to express himself not only as a composer, but also as a performer.

In Tymoszówka, the Szymanowskis’ family estate, the piano was virtually a member of the family. The story of its alleged destruction – by being thrown into a pond – is at the same time a story of an end of an era, also an era in the history of music. Yet, history goes on. In the competition, we search for pianists who are able to find the meaning of Szymanowski – here and now.

The rules will be available soon.

The winners will receive high monetary prizes and the title of a laureate will surely open up new artistic opportunities before them.

1st prize      25,000 €
2nd prize     18,000 €
3rd prize     10,000 €

Special prize for the best performance of a piece by Karol Szymanowski: 6,000 €.

We will not conceal the fact that while preparing the repertoire for pianists, we looked towards the East much more willingly than towards the West. Szymanowski, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Scriabin… Can one wish for anything more? If that is still not enough for somebody, the works by Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel and Bernstein which complement the repertoire list will surely offer something to suit every pianist.

The full repertoire will be available soon.

 

31.01.2023 deadline for entries
1.03.2023 announcement of the list of participants who have qualified for the competition
4.09.2023 performance order draw
5–7.09.2023 1st stage
9–10.09.2023 2nd stage
15,19.09.2023 final
23.09.2023 laureates' concert

 

String Quartet

A string quartet is an intimate form. It is a most challenging form, both for the composer and for the performers. Karol Szymanowski’s two string quartets are true gems, world-class masterpieces of the genre.

Like light focused in a lens, Szymanowski’s quartets concentrate within themselves the essence of his musical language, his style, and his emotionality. To perform them convincingly, one needs perfect workmanship and wide cultural horizons. Yet, the Karol Szymanowski Competition does not look for convincing performers. It looks for arch-masters.

The rules will be available soon.

The winners will receive high monetary prizes and the title of a laureate will surely open up new artistic opportunities before them.

1st prize      38,000 €
2nd prize     26,000 €
3rd prize      14,000 €

Special prize for the best performance of a piece by Karol Szymanowski: 10,000 €.

The repertoire of the competition is built around works from the greatest revolutionaries, which is why it begins with Beethoven. In the following stages, participants may choose from pieces by Schönberg, Bartók, Penderecki, Bacewicz, and of course Szymanowski. There will also be no shortage of icons of the Romantic quartet, i.e. Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Dvořák.

The full repertoire will be available soon.

31.01.2023 deadline for entries
1.03.2023 announcement of the list of participants who have qualified for the competition
4.09.2023 performance order draw
14–16.09.2023 1st stage
18–19.09.2023 2nd stage
21.09.2023 final
23.09.2023 laureates' concert

Voice

The human soul expresses itself most directly through singing. While singing Szymanowski, one may touch upon the mysticism of the East, get lost in the mist of Młoda Polska poetry, stand against the spiritual titans of Modernism, wander among the rhymes of Tuwim’s Słopiewnie, as well as lose oneself in King Roger’s dilemmas and Roxanne’s sensual charm.

Karol Szymanowski’s sister, Stanisława, was a singer herself. It is singing that his music breathes with. We seek singers who will find a common breath with Karol Szymanowski.

The rules will be available soon.

The winners will receive high monetary prizes and the title of a laureate will surely open up new artistic opportunities before them.

1st prize       25,000 €
2nd prize     18,000 €
3rd prize      10,000 €

Special prize for the best performance of a piece by Karol Szymanowski: 6,000 €.
Honourable mention for the best accompanying pianist: 2,000 €.

Unfortunately, Karol Szymanowski’s vocal works are biased towards high-pitched voices, both male and female ones. It was, however, King Roger’s baritone that the composer used to create one of the most fascinating characters of 20th-century opera. This is why the repertoire of the second edition of the competition offers a wider choice of pieces for singers with low voices than before.

31.01.2023 deadline for entries
1.03.2023 announcement of the list of participants who have qualified for the competition
4.09.2023 performance order draw
15–17.09.2023 1st stage
19–20.09.2023 2nd stage
22.09.2023 final
23.09.2023 laureates' concert

Previous editions

The first edition of the competition took place in 2018 and it was a truly pioneering event. The initiators were Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa, then director of NOSPR, and the authorities of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.

The competition took place merely four years after NOSPR had moved to its new seat, where the final auditions were run. Invitations to form the Honourable Committee were accepted by Sir Simon Rattle and Krzysztof Penderecki. The competition was divided into five categories: piano, violin, string quartet, voice, and composition.

The participants were judged by a jury composed of the following members:

Piano: Andrzej Jasiński (chair), Joanna Domańska, Olga Kern, Aviram Reichert, Martin Roscoe, Tamás Ungár.

Violin: Bartłomiej Nizioł (chair), Eszter Haffner, Laurent Korcia, Szymon Krzeszowiec, Alexander Trostiansky, Andreas Vierziger.

String Quartet: Valentin Erben (chair), Krzysztof Chorzelski, Tim Frederiksen, Tadeusz Gadzina, Arkadiusz Kubica, Mats Lidström.

Voice: Jadwiga Rappé (chair), Ewa Biegas, Hartmut Höll, Bruno Michel, Mitsuko Shirai, Elżbieta Szmytka.

Composition: Eugeniusz Knapik (chair), Jakob Kullberg, Krzysztof Penderecki, Martin Smolka.

The laureates of the 1st Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition were:

Piano:
• Tymoteusz Bies – 1st prize, special prize for the best performance of a piece by Karol Szymanowski
• Mateusz Krzyżowski – 2nd prize
• Seung Hui Kim – 3rd prize

Violin:
• Sławomira Wilga – 1st prize
• Roksana Kwaśnikowska – 2nd prize
• Maja Horvat – 3rd prize, special prize for the best performance of a piece by Karol Szymanowski:

Voice:
• Ewa Tracz – 1st prize, special prize for the best performance of a piece by Karol Szymanowski
• Sylwia Olszyńska – 2nd prize
• Agnieszka Jadwiga Grochala – 3rd prize

String Quartet:
• Eliot Quartett – 1st prize, special prize for the best performance of a piece by Karol Szymanowski
• Selini Quartet – 2nd prize
• New Music Quartet – 3rd prize

Composition:
• Giovanni Bonato – 1st prize
• Daniele Gasparini – 2nd prize
• Lim Youngjin – 3rd prize

Honourable mentions for the best accompanying pianists:
Maurycy Stawujak – best accompanying pianist in the voice category
Radosław Kurek – best accompanying pianist in the violin category


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