War in Ukraine Makes Major Impact on Tchaikovsky Competition

Photo courtesy of the XVII International Tchaikovsky Competition

Russia’s renowned Tchaikovsky Competition has announced winners from a much smaller competition this year.

The Tchaikovsky Competition, founded in 1958, is one of classical music’s most prestigious competitions. It began with piano and violin before expanding to include cello, voice and woodwind categories. Held every four years in Moscow and St. Petersburg, it is described as a “landmark of national musical culture.” Enrollments in the competition this year were down over twenty percent, with larger than usual numbers of competitors from Russia and China.

What’s going on: As Russia continues to wage war in Ukraine, international competitors poured into Moscow last week, even as the Wagner mercenary group’s armed rebellion edged towards the same city. Most judges were local with a few notable exceptions.

The World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) expelled the competition from its organization in solidarity with Ukraine. Broadcasts of the competition, usually held on Medici.tv, were also cancelled.

Digging deeper: The WFIMC called the competition a promotional tool by the Russian regime, which hoped to make Russians forget the war their country was waging next door. Foreign jurors were accused of supporting Putin on a jury that included the Russian president’s good friend and daughter’s godfather, the cellist Sergei P. Roldugin. Competitors were warned that competing could negatively affect their careers.

The winners?

Gyehee Kim from South Korea took home the 100,000 USD violin Grand Prize and Lee Youngeun, also of South Korea, won the cello category. Russia’s Sergei Davydchenko and Zinaida Tsarenko won the piano and voice categories, respectively.

A full list can be found here.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.