Austrian Cultural Forum

Considering the relative overabundance of piano literature, it would be seemingly foolhardy to stage a composition competition promoting the creation of new pieces for piano.  Everything appears to exist already, even pieces for children and young adults.  Still, far too frequently it is precisely this contemporary „educational literature“ which proves lacking in artistic qualities; accompanying a reduction in technical difficulty, with an objectionable reduction in the notion of what children and young adults are capable of understanding – both intellectually and emotionally.

The 6th Mauricio Kagel Composition Competition is looking for piano pieces written for children and young adults which, although limited in their technical difficulty, remain uncompromising in their artistic aim; pieces written with a contemporary compositional technique which offer the young student stimulus, insight and new experiences: experiences about oneself and the world in which we live.

With the creation of this competition, the Ludwig van Beethoven Department of Piano in Music Education would like to ensure that such quality pieces are more prevalent in the future and to this end we invite composers to accept the challenge by enrolling in the competition.

In the course of a week’s time an audience comprised of students, teachers, and performing artists will be given the chance to listen as the jury evaluates the different ways this challenge has been addressed by the composers.  The jury will assess not only the artistic quality of the pieces, but also the question: what does a piano student learn from these pieces?  And in addition the discussion will cover what makes a piece exciting and what is future-oriented; while at the same time never loosing sight of the technical limits implied when composing for children and young adults.

For more information & application details, please click here.