The first round of the world-famous Queen Elisabeth Competition, a competition for classical musicians, starts at Flagey in Brussels today. This year’s event is dedicated to the piano. 60 young musicians are competing, including compatriots Roeland Vermeulen and Valère Burnon. The competition is becoming increasingly popular. Tickets for the semi-final and the final were sold out in no time.
Queen Elisabeth Competition starts with 2 Belgian contenders and record ticket sales
Colin Clapson
Published:
Brace yourself for a big dose of Chopin, Mozart and Rachmaninov: after cello, voice and violin, it's back to the piano at this year's Queen Elisabeth Competition. The previous edition was dogged by the pandemic with fewer candidates and no audience yet. Frenchman Jonathan Fournel was the winner.
Now the public is more eager than ever: in 24 hours, all six final nights at the Bozar art centre were sold out, and tickets for the semi-finals at Flagey have also all been sold.
Who are the Belgian contestants?
Out of 289 candidates, the jury selected a field of 70 contestants based on videos. 60 of them will perform in Brussels during the 1st round. Only 2 of them are Belgians: Roeland Vermeulen from Leuven and Valère Burnon from Marche-en-Famenne. Both are aged 26. Burnon gives his 1st round performance on Tuesday 6 May, Vermeulen on 8 May, both during the evening session at 8pm.
Who else is participating?
60 piano virtuosos from many different continents will perform. Asia is traditionally well represented with 13 candidates from Korea, 11 from China, 6 from Japan. 3 Russian and 2 Belarusian pianists are taking part. From France and Italy there are also 3 contenders, from the Netherlands 2. No fewer than 5 participants are studying at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo.