More than 300 pianists and violinists from Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Oceania have entered the 3rd Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians.

Among those meeting the April 30 deadline is no lack of straight-A students from 33 world-renowned music schools. These include China's Central Conservatory of Music, America's Juilliard School and Curtis Institute of Music, Britain's Royal College of Music, Russia's Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and Italy's Milan Conservatory.

The results of preliminary selection will be released later this month, and the competition will take place from Sept 10 to 22 at the Zhuhai Huafa & CPAA Grand Theatre.

Contestants will be divided into three groups, with ages up to 12 in Group A, 13 to 16 in Group B, and 17 to 23 in Group C. The top four in Group A will receive from $1,000 to $7,500, in Group B from $5,000 to $15,000, and in Group C from $7,500 to $30,000. 

2017 edition

To demonstrate the charm of native music, the competition has included Chinese works in a prescribed repertoire, and set up a $500 Chinese Repertoire Prize for Groups B and C. In the meantime, Best Audience Prize $500, one for each instrument, and Young Jury Prize Nice Watch, one for each group, will be presented.

For the first time, the organizing committee will invite observatory students from all over the world to form a teenage jury with the purposes of promoting classical music and involving more music lovers. The jury will be supplemented by expert panels headed by German cellist Julius Berger and Russian pianist Pavel Gililov.

Founded in 2015, the biennial competition is the only multidisciplinary youth classical music event in the world named after Mozart. It is endorsed by the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) and Alink-Argerich Foundation.

For more event information, visit the official website at www.zhmozart.org.

Poster for the competition [Photos courtesy WeChat account: zhmozart]