On Friday, 60 talented pianists were selected to participate in the 21st edition of Belgium's annual prestigious Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition.
The competition offers the opportunity to young musicians to make their name on the world stage with its wide media coverage.
Two of the 60 pianists selected from 289 entries worldwide are Belgian – the Walloon Valère Burnon and Flemish Roeland Vermeulen, who are both 26 years old.
The first round of the competition kicked off on Monday 5 May, where each candidate performed a piece selected an hour beforehand by the jury. They performed solo on the Flagey stage for 25 minutes.
Burnon will perform at 20:00 on Tuesday 6 May and Vermeulen will perform at 20:00 on Thursday 8 May. After this initial first round, 24 semi-finalists will be announced at midnight on Saturday 10 May.
A Belgian event with international reach
The competition will see candidates perform full works, excerpts chosen by judges, and prepared works from classical composers such as Ligeti, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, and Chopin.
The jury consists of seven renowned pianists, notably led by Gilles Ledure, the President of the cultural institution of Flagey. Big names on the scene, such as François-Frédéric Guy and Imogen Cooper, will appear on the panel.
Past winners with successful following careers include Dmytro Udovychenko, Taehan Kim, and Hayoung Choi. The laureates of the competition have often maintained close ties to Belgium well into their careers.
'Compulsory works'
The finale involves a week-long preparation period of a composed work, without any external assistance. The 12 finalists must perform this alongside an orchestra. All performances can be followed live on the day and online afterwards.
Semi-finals will take place from Monday 12 May. The finale will take place at 20:00 on Saturday 31 May in the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, followed by a celebratory closing concert on Wednesday 11 June in the same location.
