Rules and Regulations

• Thirty (30) contestants will be accepted to participate in the competition and their names will be announced to the public.
• The signing of the acceptance form constitutes acceptance by the contestant of all rules and regulations. The original English version of these rules governs all interpretations.
• All contestants will receive at least $1,000 for participation.
• All works are to be performed from memory and in their entirety.
• Competition performances will be prerecorded due to differences in time zones. However, during the recording process, contestants are only allowed to play through their performances once.
• Contestants will not be allowed to edit their performance.
• Contestants will be allowed 10 minutes to warm-up before recording their performances at the Steinway Piano Gallery locations.
• Repertoire must be different for each round.
• Submitted repertoire is subject to review by competition officials.
• The order of appearance of pianists will be determined by a drawing conducted by competition officials that will be recorded and made available for viewing online.
• Jury members will not be in contact with contestants while such contestants are continuing to compete.
• Any jury member who has taught a contestant within the last five years, or who will teach a contestant in the immediate future, or has a family relationship with a contestant, must abstain from voting on that contestant. Jury members may also waive their vote for personal or professional reasons. All declarations of abstentions will be made the night before the competition begins and will be maintained throughout the competition.
• Jury members will not discuss their opinions and decisions regarding proceedings, marks, or rankings for the duration of the competition.
• Jury members will vote at the end of the first round and the final round. For the vote following the first round, each of the jurors will submit their top six (6) contestants in order to advance to the next round. The competitors who receive the most votes from the jury will advance to the next round.
• To select the top three (3) prize winners, the members of the jury will rank the contestants in order of whom they prefer to be awarded each prize. Should none of the competitors attain a majority of votes, then a further ballot will be held to decide between the competitors with the most votes.
• In the event of a tie, another vote will be held for the tied competitors.
• All ballots will be written and signed without discussion and submitted to the competition officials for scoring.
• The decision of the jury is final and not subject to questions, revisions, or appeal.
• The competition will consist of two separate rounds: first round (all contestants) and final round (six contestants).
• The names of the candidates for the final round will be announced to the public in performance order without regard to rank. After the final round is completed, the names of the six finalists will be announced in order of rank.
• All announced prizes will be awarded.
• Prizes may be subject to U.S. income tax laws.
• If any unexpected situations which arise in the execution of these guidelines, the Jury Chairman, the Chair of the Board of Directors, and the President will resolve such situations.