For the evaluation of the digital preliminary round and admission of the young pianists to the piano competition
The excitement reached its peak last Saturday: 62 young pianists from 11 countries were admitted to the competition by our jury. At https://piano-compet ition-kronberg.de/wettbewerb/ergebnisse/, in addition to the schedule for the competition, we have also published a statement from the jury and information about how they work.
With the proven high level of the entries, many decisions were very close! Due to the limited time of the competition of 2.5 days, unfortunately, more participants could not be admitted. We heartily congratulate all admitted participants and look forward to an exciting and interesting competition with them!
But what about the 229 young pianists who could not be admitted?
Sadness, disappointment and perhaps anger about some jury decisions cannot be avoided. Each of the young artists has put a lot of hard work, effort, passion and their own personal feelings into their performance and the creation of the video - and with that, of course, comes the great hope of being able to take part in the competition.
But what remains when the initial disappointment has faded? Does that leave us with "I wasn't good enough"? Does this mean that competitions only produce winners and losers? Or could this be seen in a completely different light?
Yes, you could not only - you should!
Those who sign up for a competition are very committed to themselves, the music and their piano playing. The focus is on learning, on developing one's own skills. In the run-up to the competition, they work on details, on musical understanding, on the interpretation of the selected pieces, on technical problems. Hurdles are overcome, auditions mastered, until finally the repertoire is ready.
This kind of preparation is very different from working on pieces without this goal. Because in the end the greatest possible confidence must be achieved, the pieces really mastered and understood, so that they are presented as well as possible even with stage fright and in the stressful situation of a performance at a competition.
So between "before the competition" and "after the competition" there is a development, often a very considerable one. A development of personal musical and technical skills, a development of personality, a development of discipline, self-reflection, self-responsibility and self-awareness.
This applies to everyone! Whether he won prizes or not, whether he was admitted or not! Everyone has won something, he has significantly improved his piano playing and his own skills.
That should be the focus, that should be conveyed to the young musicians! They can be proud of themselves, proud of what they have achieved. They have courageously taken the risk of facing the judgment of a jury, which is also worthy of all honor.
Yes, good enough!
Says your Ulrike Danne-Feldmann
