Hélène de Montgeroult" International Piano Competition

On August 22, 2024, Jan Brachmann wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany's most respected newspapers: "There are three things [ in this concert ] that are moving about Hélène de Montgeroult Firstly, the Romantic piano piece was born in France, during Mozart's and Haydn's lifetime; secondly, long before Chopin, the étude had evolved from a manual practice piece into a form of lyricism without words; thirdly, a woman was at the forefront of musical innovation and originality, no longer in the wake of the male avant-garde. Our academic historiography of music, including our German-centric understanding of Romanticism, is based not on knowledge but on ignorance, on the constant confirmation of practiced prejudices rather than on genuine research. And once again, it is the interpreters who precede the science."

As in 2023, the candidates.., aged between eight and a half and twentyselected on the basis of a video, are divided into four degrees according to their age.

We will have the opportunity to listen to 42 young artists of some fifteen nationalities, almost half of whom come from abroad. Five of them are studying at the Conservatoire de Fribourg.

The jury is made up of artistic and educational personalities from Switzerland and France: Brigitte Meyer, internationally renowned Swiss pianist, concert pianist and teacher; Philippe Chanon, Franco-Swiss pianist, passionate about teaching and current deputy director of the Geneva Conservatoire; and Fiona Hengartner, pianist, concert pianist and teacher at the Fribourg Conservatoire, where she also works as an accompanist.

Visit AWARDS PRESENTATION will take place on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at Bicubicaccompanied by a concert by the prizewinners. It will give the public the opportunity to hear the best participants from each grade in a chosen program, as well as the four Hélène de Montgeroult studies imposed in their best interpretation.

As a prelude to the competition, on Friday evening, November 14, at 8pm, the duo that Thierry Lang has been training for almost thirty years with his accomplice Heiri Känzig who will take us on a jazz concert combining lyricism and warm virtuosity.

www.concourshelenedemontgeroult.ch

credit: Joseph Carlucci