All-Russian music competition

The All-Russian Music Competition was established by the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation in September, 2010.

The competition aims to preserve and develop best traditions of Russian performing art and incorporates best features of its “predecessor”, i.e., the All-Union Competition of Musicians established in 1933, which discovered for the world such names as Emil Gilels, Svyatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, Svyatoslav Knushevitskiy, Evgeniy Mravinskiy, Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Atlantov, Vera Dulova, Elena Obraztsova, Yuriy Temirkanov, Mikhail Pletnyov, Valeriy Gergiev, and many other outstanding contemporary musicians.

Starting from 1961, the All-Union Competition of Musicians received a special status, a qualifying stage of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. The Competition has been held during 58 years and was a national treasure. The last All-Union Competition was held in 1991, the year of the collapse of the USSR.

The I All-Russian Music Competition (2010-2013) immediately received a status of a large-scale and significant cultural event.

It is a four-year cycle of competitions and covers almost every specialty of academic musical performance: the 1st year is dedicated to the categories of Piano, Violin, Cello, Solo Singing; the 2nd year covers Chamber Ensemble, Choral Conducting, Opera-Symphonic Conducting; the 3rd year, Woodwinds, Brass Bands, Percussion Instruments, Ensembles of Woodwind Instruments, Ensembles of Brass Instruments, Organ, and Harp; the 4th year, Balalaika, Domra, Guitar, Bayan and Accordion, Ensembles of Russian Folk Instruments, Orchestra Russian Folk Instruments Orchestra Conducting.

More than 3 thousand young musicians have participated in the All-Russian Music Competition since 2010. The jury was formed by outstanding figures of the Russian music culture: Nikita Petrov, Boris Tevlin, Elena Obraztsova, Irina Bogachova, Valeriy Khalilov, Yuriy Simonov, Leonid Smetannikov, Anatoliy Dmitriev, Saulius Sondeckis, Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, Friedrich Lips, Sergey Stadler, Sergey Roldugin, Olga Borodina, Larisa Gergieva, Yuriy Laptev, Nikolay Alekseev, Rishat Abdullin, Aleksandr Tchaikovsky, Viktor Popov, Yuriy Bashmet, Andrey Knyazev, Maksim Shostakovich, and others.

Starting from 2014, the winners of the All-Russian Music Competition may enter the International Tchaikovsky Competition without participating in the qualifying stage. Thus, making themselves known at the All-Russian Music Competition, gifted performers have many times become laureates of the most prestigious competition in the world. Among them are pianists Dmitriy Masleev and Konstantin Emelyanov, cellists Aleksandr Ramm and Anastasia Kobekina, violinist Pavel Milyukov, sopranos Maria Motolygina and Fyodor Shagov (brass bands, bass horn).

What sets the All-Russian Competition apart from other musical contests is the fact that it covers the whole country. For young talented musicians who live in remote regions and often do not have an opportunity to travel to Moscow, local competitions are a unique chance to make themselves known.

In 2021, the All-Russian Music Competition changed its format. Earlier, only qualifying stages used to be held in regions, and now competitions in every category, from the first stage till the final one, as well as the gala concert, take place in different cities of Russia.

The All-Russian Music Competition sets high standards for the professional level of participants, determines new criteria for performing art that correspond to the spirit of times, inspires young Russian musicians to strive tirelessly for the height of excellence.