1. The 27^th Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition will take place at the Teatrino di Villa Reale and the Teatro Manzoni from September 29 to October 5, 2024.

2. Pianists of any nationality born after October 5, 1993 can participate.

3. The members of the Jury cannot have students, former students (to whom they have given lessons from 2018 onwards) or relatives (up to the third degree of kinship) among the participants. This rule also applies in the case of occasional masterclasses as effective students. The candidates must therefore declare, upon application, that they have not had teaching relationships as an effective student with any of the jurors from 2018 onwards.

4. The Competition rounds will be preceded by a Pre-selection, based on the examination of the material sent by the competitors (see art. 7/c). No more than 24 competitors will participate in the First Round, no more than 10 in the Second Round, no more than 6 in the Third Round. 3 competitors will participate in the Final Round.

5. All competitors admitted to the Competition, if they wish, will be hosted free of charge with families and will have a piano available for practicing during their participation in the Competition. They must be available to participate in collateral events of the Competition if necessary. Any accompanying persons will have to personally pay for their accommodation expenses.

6. Prizes cannot be awarded ex-aequo.

7. Applications can be submitted from April 1 to May 30, 2024, exclusively via the website www.concorsosalagallo.it.

To start the online application procedure, the candidate will have to:

a. Have the receipt of payment of the application fee (non-refundable) of €75. It can be paid via PayPal (e-mail info@concorsosalagallo.it) or via bank transfer

(RINA SALA GALLO MUSICAL ASSOCIATION – MONZA Via Frisi 23, 20900 MONZA BANCO DI DESIO E DELLA BRIANZA IBAN: IT10 A 03440 20402 000000479900 BIC: BDBDIT22 – Reason: First name Surname, Preselection 27 RSG).

b. Have a recent photo available (JPG format, preferably over 2 MB in weight) and a scan (JPG or PDF format) of a valid identity document or passport, showing the date and place of birth and residency.

c. Have a video available with the program required for the Pre-selection (see “Pre-selection program”). The video must be filmed in a single shot, without cuts between the pieces, with a fixed camera that frames the entire figure of the pianist and with his/her hands and face clearly visible. At the beginning of the video, the candidate must introduce him/herself (in English), say something about him/herself and his/her passion for music and verbally confirm that the video is for the Rina Sala Gallo International Piano Competition. The spoken part must last approximately 60 seconds and be placed at the beginning of the video. The video must be performed without an audience and must be filmed no earlier than February 1, 2024. The video format must preferably be .MOV, H264, Audio AAC 48 kHz, maximum weight 2GB.

The video must be sent via WeTransfer (www.wetransfer.com), filling the fields as follows:

“Send an email to” field: enter the address concorso@concorsosalagallo.it
“Your Email” field: enter your email address
“Message” field: Enter your first name and surname and the program performed in the video, in order of performance.

The download notification sent by WeTransfer is valid as a receipt of correct sending and reception of the video.

The video must be performed without an audience and must be filmed no earlier than February 1, 2024.

8. By June 30, 2024, the selected competitors will receive a confirmation email to participate in the Competition. The admitted competitors will be given the access credentials to the site where they will have to complete their application by July 31st, paying a non-refundable fee of €100. Application must be completed with the chosen program and a CV of no more than 120 words or 800 characters, with the name of their last two teachers.

9. All selected competitors must present themselves for registration and the draw for the order of performance in the rounds on 29 September 2024 from 9 am to 5.30 pm. Those who cannot be present may be admitted to the rounds only at the sole discretion of the Jury upon advance presentation of a reasoned justification and will occupy the place assigned to them by the Jury in the order of performance of the First Round.

10. The public will be admitted to all the rounds and during the Final will award a scholarship to one of the finalists.

11. Participation in the Competition is subject to acceptance of the regulations and the decisions of the Jury which are final. In case of complaints or disputes, the Italian text of the regulation will be valid. The competitor declares to allow the audio and/or video recording of each performance, even partially, and its possible future transmission in any type of media. The competitor also declares to waive any compensation relating to the use of the recorded material, including that sent with the application.

12. Pre-selection

The program must have a total duration of between 15 and 20 minutes and must include:
a. A first movement of a piano sonata, chosen from among Haydn, Clementi, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert’s piano sonatas.
b. An Etude chosen from among those of Bartók, Chopin, Debussy, Godowsky, Ligeti, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Schumann, Scriabin, or Stravinsky.
c. A piece of free choice, composed after 1820.

Performing from memory is not mandatory. The repertoire performed in the video can also be presented in the subsequent stages of the Competition.

The order of performance is freely chosen by the candidate.

13. First Round  (September 30th – October 1st)

A program lasting between 25 and 30 minutes including:

a. A sonata by Mozart, Haydn or Clementi.
b. One or more compositions of free choice among those composed by Brahms, Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Liszt.
c. Franz Schubert: Moment Musical D 780 no. 3 in F minor.

The order of performance is freely chosen by the candidate.

14. Second Round (October 2nd)

A program lasting between 35 and 40 minutes including:

a. A sonata by Beethoven (excluding Op. 49 and Op. 79) or Schubert (excluding the unfinished sonatas).
b. One or more compositions composed after 1900.

The order of performance is freely chosen by the candidate.

15. Third Round (October 3rd)

A concert program lasting between 50 and 55 minutes of the candidate’s free choice in which compositions already presented in previous rounds cannot be included.

At least one piece composed after 1950 must be included.

16. Final Round (October 5th)

A Piano Concerto chosen by the competitor from among the following:

Mozart: Concertos K453, K466, K488, K491, K503, K537, K595
Beethoven: Concertos no. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Mendelssohn: Concertos no. 1 and 2
Chopin: Concertos no. 1 and 2
Schumann: Concerto Op. 54
Liszt: Concertos no. 1 and 2
Grieg: Concerto Op. 16
Tchaikovsky: Concerto no. 1
Rachmaninov: Concertos no. 2, 3

17. The members of the Jury and any alternative Jury members are chosen on the proposal of the Jury President, appointed by the Council of the Musical Association of Monza. In the first meeting of the Jury, the President appoints a Vice-President.

18. A condition for being part of the Jury is acceptance of this regulation and the evaluation system.

19. The members of the Jury cannot have relatives (within the third degree of kinship), students or former students (to whom they have given lessons from 2018 onwards) among the competitors. This rule also applies in the case of occasional masterclasses, as effective students.

20. A secretary participates in the work of the Jury, without the right to vote. The President and/or a member of the Rina Sala Gallo Musical Association, and any interpreters, may also attend, without the right to vote.

21. A report is drawn up of every act and decision of the Jury or members of the Jury. The report must be signed by the President of the Jury or whoever takes his place. The votes can be consulted at the Competition secretariat at the end of the Competition.

22. The members of the Jury cannot have direct or indirect contact with the competitors while they are participating in the Competition. However, they must be available to meet eliminated competitors who request it.

23. The Pre-selection Jury is composed of three members chosen from those who will be part of the Competition Jury. Each member of the preliminary Jury will leave a short comment text for each competitor, which can be shared with the competitors who do not pass the preliminary round, at their request. Each juror will express a preference for 24 candidates. Subsequently, a ranking of the candidates will be drawn up, based on the number of preferences for each candidate. The 24 candidates with the highest ranking will enter the Competition. In case of an equal score for the 24^th position, the jurors will vote again to give preference to only one of the tied candidates.

24. Passing the first three rounds will occur through a secret declaration (yes/no) by the jurors present and voting. In the event of a tie between the candidates who occupy the last positions useful for moving on to the next round (the twelfth position to access the second round, or the sixth position to access the third round), voting will take place (yes/no) regarding only the candidates who are in the ex-aequo position.

25. In the final round, each juror will assign an order of preference to the three finalists, given in numbers: 1 for the first, 2 for the second, 3 for the third. The candidate who receives the lowest sum of numbers will get the first prize. The prizes cannot be awarded ex-aequo. In the event that two candidates have the same sum of preferences, the Jury will continue voting for only those two candidates, in the form of yes/no. The candidate with the highest number of yes votes will win the first prize.

All the Jury’s votes will be published on the Competition website by October 15, 2024.