The Piano ArtIs contest was born in 2011 from the initiative of two teachers, Carmen Şoltuz – Head of the chair/piano methodical commission, and dr. Roxana Ota, practicing didactic activity at the National College of Arts “Octav Bãncilã”, Iaşi. It is the only contest dedicated to those who practice piano arts in a professional manner, held regularly in Iaşi.
Piano ArtIs arose from the need to create a quality emblem for the piano education in Iași, which, since the foundation of the Filarmonic Dramatic Conservatory in 1836, gave celebrities to the world of music.
Iaşi is not only an important artistic center, but also a city that has educated people of international value whose contributions to music are well known to the general public. National Opera of Iași, Moldova Philharmonic, National Theater Vasile Alecsandri, University of Arts George Enescu and the institution hosting the annual Piano ArtIs contest, National College of Arts Octav Băncilă, are symbols that demonstrate the pledge of this city to achieve the highest standards in all the artistic areas.
From the beginning, the Piano ArtIs project has received the support of the National College of Arts Octav Bancilă management team, the fellow teachers with whom we created a strong organization team, the School Inspectorate, and the students and their parents.
The aim of our contest is to improve the romanian cultural life and to encourage the young pianists in the study of this wonderful instrument. Starting with the fourth edition, held in March 2014, we created a section for students and MA from the art universities, an aspect that meets the need of competition in the higher education, unfortunately very little represented in specialized national competitions.
The performance of the competitors is judged by a jury composed of personalities of the romanian pedagogy and, starting with 2014, international. The Piano ArtIs contest was honored by the jury of ladies: conf. univ. dr. Mihaela Constantin – George Enescu University of Arts, Iaşi; prof. dr. Monica Noveanu – School of Art Sigismund Toduţã, Cluj Napoca; prof. Elisa Bârzescu – National College of Art George Enescu, Bucureşti; and the prof. univ. dr. Laura Vasiliu – dean of the Faculty of Interpretation, Composition and Music Theoretical Studies part of the University of Arts George Enescu, Iaşi.
The repertoire requested in the contest standing orders was designed to develop and at the same time to highlight the technical and interpretative attributes of the young musicians. As can be seen, up to class IV, the stylistic range is slightly restricted to works from the baroque and classical period (excepting the study), the reason is that learning thorough technical and stylistic elements of these creative periods represents the starting point of the future musician. The repertory of the other sections provides to the candidate a greater freedom of expression, the stylistic palette being extended to the contemporary era, but not without passing through the sonatas of the great classical composers (classes V-XII) or through the bachian polyphony (students and masterands).
The contest is held every year in the hall of festivities of the National College of Arts Octav Bancilă, Iasi. The organizing institution provides study rooms for the candidates and the possibility of accommodation in rooms or dormitories and meals at the school cafeteria. Each candidate has allocated sufficient time to accommodate with the piano from the contest. Our team is present at all times to help with all necessary information.
Thank you for your trust and we welcome you this year!