INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION “LA PALMA D’ORO”
Ninth Edition

Art. 1 – The “Sulle Note” Music Association supported by San Benedetto del Tronto Town Hall (ITALY), organizes the ninth edition of the International Piano Competition “La Palma d’Oro” 26-27-28 September 2025 and will be held in presence in the beautiful Teatro Concordia.

Art. 2 – The event is open to all citizens, both Italian and Foregneirs.

Art. 3 – The main purpose of the Competition is to promote the culture of music and to encourage young people to study and play piano.

Art. 4 – By entering the Competition you agree and conform to the present guidelines.

Art. 5 – The Competitors by subscribing to the Association “Sulle Note” (according to article 97 of copyright law) authorizes the recording of his/her image, voice and any declaration given through the broadcasting by all media: Radio, TV, Cinema, Photography, Internet, Youtube, Facebook, Websites etc. Nevertheless to publish and issue them through any paper means: magazines, books, leaflets and any other paper promotional support of the Association and to show his/her image during exibitions, workshops, conferences for any future events.

Art. 6 – The Competitors can’t forward any request of money regarding any possible audio or video recording performance transmitted during the competition.

Art. 7 – According to the article 10 of law nr. 675/96 on “protection of personal data” we inform you that any given data at the moment of subscription will be only used for purposes regarding communications relative to the Competition, any other purpose is to be excluded.

Art. 8 – The organization reserves the right to make changes or additions to this announcement.

Art. 9 – In case of dispute or claim, only the Italian version of the Competition Regulations will be considered valid. Any dispute will be settled by the Court of Ascoli Piceno, Italy.

Art. 10 – The International Piano Competition “La Palma d’Oro” is in one professional category (from 18 to 36 years of age) and it’s divided into 3 rounds:

• Eliminatory round: free programme lasting up to 15 minutes including a brilliant etude.
• Semifinal round: free programme lasting up to 25 minutes
• FINAL round: free programme lasting a maximum of 35 minutes.

It will not be possible to repeat pieces performed in the other rounds.

For the calculation of the age, the reference date is the day before the start of the competition (25 September 2025)

A maximum of 10 candidates will be admitted to the semifinal round and up to a maximum of 4 candidates to the final round.

Art. 11 – The passage from the first two rounds will be upheld with a YES or a NO by the majority of the members of the jury, while in the final round the competitors will be judged with votes from 1 to 5 from each member of the jury.

Art.12 – For a better and more serene formulation of the programs, and in respect of the minutes of all the competitors, the artistic director wishes to specify that 1 minute more will be tolerated beyond the maximum time established for the duration of each round.

Art. 13 – Competitors are not obliged to play by heart. Any changes of the original won’t be admitted unless they have been made by the author himself.

Art.14 – Competitors will be called in alphabetical order. The starting letter will be selected by the organizing  comittee of the Competition. The scheduled audition will be issued on website www.palmaoro.it and on its Facebook and Instagram profile, on due time.

It will be possible to try the piano of the auditions at the times established by the organization.

Art.15 – Competitors not present at the time of their turn will be excluded from the competition unless the delay is due to justified and proven reasons evaluated by the artistic director and the jury.

Art.16 – The results will be announced at the end of the auditions of each round.

Art.17 – The jury will be made up of well-known teachers, concert performers of Italian and foreign nationality, organizers, music critics, directors of magazines and record labels. The chairman of the Ninth Edition of the “La Palma d’Oro” Prize will be Maestro YURI BOGDANOV.

Art. 18 – The jury has the authority to not assign prizes to all those competitors considered not sufficiently suitable, moreover it can decide to bestow ex-aequo prizes except from absolute first prize.

Art. 19 – If a component of the jury is next to kin or has had any educational relations during the past two years with one or more Competitors, he will have to abstain from any discussion or evaluation.

Art. 20 – The Jury’s decision is final and may not be appealed.

Art. 21 – International Piano Competition “LA PALMA D’ORO”

1st Prize.            € 5.000,00  (Lazar Berman prize on the twentieth anniversary of his passing)
        1 concert to be held during the 2025/2026 season.

2nd Prize.          € 1000,00

3rd Prize.           € 400,00

The scholarship of the first prize of the Piano Competition “La Palma d’Oro” has been kindly offered by the generous contribution of the Cannelli Family.

At the discretion of the jury will also be awarded a € 200 prize dedicated to the memory of the maestro Salvatore Pettini to the best talent among all the contestants.

All the winners will receive their money prizes by bank transfer.

Art. 22 – Competitors must send the registration form duly completed ON LINE on the website www.palmaoro.it together with a registration fee of €100 by 1 September 2025.

The partecipation to the competition will only be accessible to the first 50 applications received in chronological order.

Any sent after the deadline may be accepted at the discretion of the artistic director.

Payment must be made via PayPal (cannelli75@gmail.com) or Bank Transfer indicating the name of the competitor in the reason for payment.

Bank Details:
Sulle Note aps
Iban IT90J0303224400010000893735
Swift BACRIT21132