Congratulations to the 2026 Semifinalists! Click here to see the list.
Final Round: June 24-25, 2026
The Charly Prizewinners' Concert: June 26, 2026, 2 pm in Merkin Hall
Open to young pianists up to age 18, the Kaufman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition awards more than $12,000 in cash prizes and gives winners the opportunity to perform in New York's prestigious Merkin Hall.
Igal Kesselman, Artistic Director
Watch the 2024 Winners' Concert
2026 Jury
Igal Kesselman
HaeSun Paik
Zhe Tang
Shai Wosner
Pierre van der Westhuizen
CONTACT
212 501 3360
PianoCompetition@kaufmanmusiccenter.org
IMPORTANT DATES
NOV 1 – Application Portal Open
FEB 1 – Application Deadline
MAR 1 – Preliminary Round Results Announced
APR 1 – Semifinal Round (video submission)
MAY 1 – Finalists Announced
JUN 24-25 – Final Round (live in Merkin Hall)
JUN 26 – The Charly Prizewinners' Concert 2026
Cash Prizes
Senior Division: Ages 15-18
First Prize – $4500
Second Prize – $2500
Third Prize – $1000
Special Prizes may be awarded.
Junior Division 2: Ages 11-14
First Prize – $2000
Second Prize – $1000
Third Prize – $500
Special Prizes may be awarded.
Junior Division 1: Up to age 10
First Prize – $500
Second Prize – $350
Third Prize – $250
Special Prizes may be awarded.
Rules
- This website contains the most recent and accurate information about the competition, including updates that may have been made after emails have been sent.
- All applications will be reviewed by the Competition’s artistic committee and treated as confidential.
- The committee reserves the right to request additional information from or about an applicant.
- Upon notification of acceptance to the competition, all candidates must guarantee their availability for all published dates of the competition.
- The jury reserves the right not to choose any winners.
- The decision of the jury is final.
- The competition may be broadcast live or may be recorded and videotaped for subsequent broadcast, video or audio recording use.
- Competition winners are required to perform at the Winners Showcase Concert at Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Concert Hall on Friday, June 26, 2026.
- Competition winners must perform one of the compositions they performed at the live auditions for the Winners Concert, selected by the Artistic Committee.
- Past First Prize Winners are not permitted to compete in the same category.
Audition & Repertoire Requirements – 2026
Ages for each division are as of June 23, 2026.
SENIOR DIVISION: AGES 15–18
Preliminary Round – Prerecorded: Up to 20 minutes of music can be submitted in multiple video links. Videos should be unedited.
Contestant's choice (needs to include at least one fast-paced work). YouTube links are strongly preferred.
Semi-Final Round – Prerecorded: Up to 25 minutes. Must be recorded in one take, no editing is allowed. (One camera, hands are visible at all times).
- One virtuoso etude by Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Prokofiev, etc.
- One Baroque polyphonic piece
- One or more pieces at the participant's discretion
Final Round – Live: Up to 40 minutes of music
- First movement (or all movements) of a Classical sonata
- One or more pieces at the participant's discretion
Please note that one or more compositions from the Romantic era must be included in the competition repertoire, in either semi-final or final round.
One work from semi-final round may be repeated in the finals. Works from preliminary round can be performed at the semifinal or the final round.
JUNIOR DIVISION 2: AGES 11–14
Preliminary Round – Prerecorded: Up to 15 minutes of music can be submitted in multiple video links. Videos should be unedited.
Contestant's choice (needs to include at least one fast-paced work). YouTube links are strongly preferred.
Semi-Final Round – Prerecorded: Up to 20 minutes of music. Must be recorded in one take, no editing is allowed. (One camera, hands are visible at all times).
- One Baroque polyphonic work
- One virtuoso etude by Czerny, Clementi, Moszkowski, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, etc.
- One or more pieces at the participant's discretion
Final Round – Live: Up to 25 minutes of music
- First movement (or all movements) of a Classical sonata
- One or more compositions from the Romantic era
- One or more pieces at the participant's discretion (optional)
One work from semi-final round may be repeated.
Works from preliminary round can be performed at the semi-final or the final rounds.
JUNIOR DIVISION 1: UP TO AGE 10
Preliminary Round – Prerecorded: Up to 10 minutes of music can be submitted in multiple video links. Videos should be unedited.
Contestant's choice (needs to include at least one fast-paced work). YouTube links are strongly preferred.
Semi-Final Round – Prerecorded: Up to 15 minutes of music. Must be recorded in one take, no editing is allowed. (One camera, hands are visible at all times.)
- One Baroque polyphonic work
- One virtuoso etude by Czerny, Berens, Lemoine Loeschhorn, Chopin, Moszkowski, Liszt, etc.
- One or more pieces at the participant's discretion
Final Round – Live: Up to 20 minutes of music
- First or last movement of sonatina or sonata from the Classical era
- One or more compositions from the Romantic era
- One or more pieces at the participant's discretion (optional)
One work from semi-final round may be repeated in the final round.
Works from preliminary round can be performed in semi-final or final rounds.
