With such a dizzying array of music competitions out there, it can be very difficult for young musicians to know which ones are worth their time.
Gustav Alink knows this only too well. With an interest sparked by the 1980 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, he began visiting competitions all over Europe, noticing the lack of any guide book or comprehensive source of information on such events. At around the same time he struck up a friendship with the celebrated pianist Martha Argerich after taking her picture backstage at a performance. The beginnings of the Alink-Argerich Foundation were laid out.
Now, the Foundation monitors music competitions worldwide, with the aim of providing a definitive source of information to not only help fledgling musicians kickstart their careers, but also help the competitions themselves improve their practice. With a particular focus on piano competitions, Alink and his board members attend events almost constantly. “Every minute we are working here,” says Alink of the considerable task his Foundation is dealing with.
DR: There are many young people studying instruments. What do you recommend they look for in a competition?
GA: Everybody should realise the different levels of competitions and also of yourself – where you stand compared to others internationally.
They first should look at the repertoire that needs to be played in competitions, because that already gives great variety. Then, you need to be not only musically and technically prepared, but also mentally prepared. That’s quite important because there are always surprises at competitions, things that you don’t expect.
Also, on the organisational level, you would expect that if a competition lasts for longer than a few days there would be practice facilities, which is really a responsibility of the organisers. We have seen many different examples of how this has – or has not – been organised. So this can be shocking for participants when they travel a long way to a competition in a different country and find out that there are very poor practicing facilities.
What are the pitfalls that competitors need to look out for? Are there ever competition schedules that work against them? Might they have to play on instruments that aren’t very good, or have to work with conductors who don’t speak their language?
(Laughs) It’s very difficult to avoid certain situations! Of course it all depends on how much information you can get before you go, and that’s what I see as one of the main tasks of our Foundation, that we try to provide as much information as possible. If you have looked at our website then you can see that there is some basic information about the competitions, such as prize money, age limits, application fee and repertoire. But we are busy all the time, expanding this almost day and night, and we will also add information about what you just mentioned: for instance, what kind of instruments are available onstage at the competitions. Some competitions have a choice of instruments for the participants. But then the other surprise might be that the time for tryouts (on instruments) onstage is very limited.
The other things that you mentioned are also very true. Contestants also want to know who might be on the jury. Sometimes the jury members’ names are not published before the competition, so that could be a surprise.
Competitions have had a bad reputation. Do you think that’s justified?
There are always rumours about competitions, people who complain. There are always surprises and disappointments. Some people can cope with that better than others. Whether complaints are justified: well, there are some situations that are regrettable. To mention just an example, there have been extreme situations when the pianists who were awarded prizes were told by the organisers, “You will get the prizes.” But they had to wait for a really long time before they get their prize, or they never received what had been promised.
One thing which people might think of is whether the results are fair. From what I have experienced at competitions, there is mostly no bad intention from the jury members or from the organisers. Sometimes things happen as they happen – coincidences.
One example: if you have a competition which allows students of jury members to participate in the same competition – which we do not favour, because it’s really not necessary – I would say that should be blocked. But if this occurs at competitions, it has happened that quite a few times one of those students ended up in the finals or even won the competition. Then many people would give the logical reaction and say, “You see?! He was a student of that juror, and he won the competition.” That implies that it was not fair. The organisers should really try to avoid these situations.
Do you think those situations are a widespread issue?
Well, the fact that students of jury members may still take part in the same competition: it’s still allowed in more than 90% of the competitions, I would say. Mostly it is in the rules that the jury must sign an official statement to let the organisers know who their students are, and then they abstain from voting on those participants. But in my opinion it would be much easier to avoid those situations altogether.
Do you think that there has been a change of attitude in terms of what competitions offer competitors, other than just prize money?
Of course. What pianists mostly want is performances, even more than prize money. And there are certain competitions that have a good reputation and have done a lot for their prize winners, such as the Leeds Piano Competition in England and the Van Cliburn in the United States. Those two and a few others have done very well by offering many engagements to their winners. But for many of the organisers of competitions it’s not easy to arrange all this, because putting on a competition is already a big thing which needs a lot of money, effort, organisational skills and contacts.