30/05/2026
Amen to these thoughts by Steven Isserlis via the amazing Su-a Lee Cello.
I’ve never been a competition girl, I found them so nerve wracking. The only “big one” (beyond clarsach in the local mod where I was the only competitor or recorder in the local mod where I competed I think against my brother 🤣) I didn’t even come close to being in the final, but I’ve still managed to have a career in music.
There are so many more avenues to becoming the musician you want to be…. there’s so much more to being a musician than “wowing” in a 15 min performance.
So aye, worth a read!
As I prepare to be one of the judges tonight for the Grand Final of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Classical Musician 2026, I am so grateful to Steven Isserlis, (one of the finest cellists of my lifetime) for his timely words about competitions...posted just a couple of days ago.
Particularly important to remember is that music isn’t a competitive sport. Amongst many other things, it is passion, lifeblood and expression. But as competition always exists somewhere, it important to remember that just by being party and present, you are already a winner, being heard and appreciated.
As a member of a panel, I would like to add that when listening, we always want everyone to be relaxed, succeed and show up to give the best you can. And the more chances you are given for showing up, the better you will become.
Meanwhile, if you missed Steven’s wise and comforting words, then I am posting them here… I urge you to read them all… there is a time for every one of us to eat zebra omelette with flamingo sauce!
By Steven Isserlis:
“Competitions – a double rant.
I tend not to follow music online; but it has been hard to avoid hearing about the ongoing Queen Elisabeth cello competition – especially since I know some of the competitors (or ex-competitors). I have watched some brief extracts – enough to be impressed. Wow – the standard of performance has been amazingly high! And some really strong musical personalities there – cellists of whom we shall hear more in the near future.
But still – it IS a competition; and therefore, I cannot resist a bit of a rant. To begin with, everyone knows that musical competitions are basically ridiculous. Music is not a competitive sport! As Bartok so memorably put it: ‘Competitions are for horses, not artists’. It’s so true – after a certain level, it becomes really impossible to judge between players, any more than it would be possible to judge between priests interpreting the word of God! It is purely a matter of personal preference; and for those preferences to hold sway over people’s careers is – well, risky.
Another thing that disturbs me almost equally, however, is the effect that being in a competition is likely to have on the playing of a young performer. Looking at the chosen repertoire for the Queen Elisabeth leads one to the conclusion that the participants are being encouraged to impress above all – rather than to move or inspire, which is surely the real purpose of music? It seems to me that in many cases they are supressing (or being encouraged/forced to supress) their vulnerability – and vulnerability is, I’d say, an essential component of the personality of a true artist. There are some great works on the programmes, of course; but it is striking how the most profound and touching works in the repertoire are so vastly outnumbered by works that show off the technique rather than the interpretive depth of the player. It’s completely understandable, of course – but also, I find, rather dispiriting.
It is absolutely true that competitions HAVE brought some great artists to prominence. One only has to look at the results of the Leeds piano competition in the late 60s/early 70s, for instance, to see the names of Radu Lupu (1969) and Murray Perahia (1972); but they chose to play the greatest masterpieces in the repertoire, and were acclaimed for their profundity, their deep understanding of the music, more than for their dexterity. (In 1975, Andras Schiff chose to play a Bach keyboard concerto in the final, which may have seemed like a mistake at the time – but people still remember that performance to this day. Besides, it doesn’t seem to have done his career any long--term harm!) Times seem to have changed – but could they not change back?
I’m certainly not criticising the young players! And many of their performances of all sorts of pieces which they chose were electrifying; but I’m just not sure that it’s a good path on which to set out. Lupu, Perahia, Schiff entered on their careers playing the music in which they truly believed, in a way which was natural to them – and their careers, unlike those of so many competition winners, lasted. If one starts out with the image of a technical wizard rather than an interpreter of original insights, it can be hard to change.
The second half of my rant comes as a result of talking to a young friend who was one of those who didn’t get through the first round of this Queen Elisabeth competition. She told me that several of those who didn’t make it past that opening round (and incidentally, I know a few of the unlucky ones – and I’m SURE that their expulsion was a mistake) were devastated, and took to their beds. Again, it’s completely understandable; but I’d like to address those players, and others who have suffered rejection in the musical world. First, a warning: a career in music at any level involves an endless series of rejections! It’s part of life. Some of my friends are among the most successful musicians in the world; and I can assure you that they are constantly feeling rejected in some way, no matter how unlikely that may seem from the outside.
But also – so you didn’t do well in this competition. It’s a horrible feeling, I know; but it doesn’t change your relationship with music. And there are other career paths than the competition route. Very few of the famous musician friends mentioned above have made their careers through competitions; and for those who have won prizes, it can be a hard struggle to sustain the boost those prizes have given them. (And that boost seems to be becoming less and less important these days, as more and more competitions spring up around the world.)
I’m by no means setting myself up as an example of success; but I do play a lot of concerts these days – at least for the moment... And I can tell you that in the only public competition I ever entered (it wasn’t even an international one, just a measly national event!) I was knocked out in the first round. Furthermore, I failed two BBC auditions (and didn’t pass a third, but was snuck in by personal recommendation); my Wigmore Hall debut was no more than a mixed success, my London concerto debut even less successful. I could go on with my litany of failures, but I’d rather not…! And yet – I had friends around me who encouraged me not to give up, to keep going; and frankly – a life without music at its centre could never have been an option. That is, I think, the most important factor in the growth of a musical career – not competitive success, but the encouragement of friends who believe in you, and the feeling inside yourself that you HAVE to be a musician, no matter what. And I’d say that the best way for a career to flourish in a healthy way is through personal recommendation, through word of musical mouth.
So I’d say to those of you who have been rejected in this competition or others: remember - it’s not the end of the world! It’s incredibly annoying and even humiliating, I know; but it doesn’t make you a lesser musician or person. Think how Mozart, Schubert etc must have felt as they saw themselves constantly passed over for the jobs they so much wanted! You’re in excellent company. And finally, I would advise you to get out of bed, eat a good zebra omelette with flamingo sauce, and start practising. It’s really true that there is no greater or more comforting companion than music…“
