Cape Town International Piano Competition

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Cape Piano, the Cape Town International Piano Competition, welcomes the world’s most gifted young pianists for a landmark event, set in one of the most iconic cities on earth.

06/08/2026

Applications to the inaugural Cape Town International Piano Competition are now closed.

We are overwhelmed by the response. Over 200 applications received from more than 20 countries around the world. For a first edition, we are incredibly proud.

Thank you to every pianist who submitted. The standard of applicants has been remarkable, and the screening jury has an extraordinary task ahead.

30 finalists will be announced on 1 September 2026.

capepiano.com

🎥 Juror Michail Lifits plays Shostakovich Prelude and Fugue in D minor op 87 No 24

YoungPianists ApplicationsClosed CapeTowm

01/08/2026

An update on applications.

Thank you to everyone who has already submitted — we cannot wait to hear you.

After careful consideration, we have decided to extend the application to support candidates who have experienced technical difficulties with submissions or payments.

Applications now close on 3 August 2026 at 11:59pm GMT.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

capepiano.com/competition/

🎥 Michail Lifits plays Shostakovich Prelude and Fugue in D minor op 87 No 24

ApplicationsExtended

One day left.Applications to the Cape Town International Piano Competition close tomorrow, 1 August 2026.This is an inau...
31/07/2026

One day left.

Applications to the Cape Town International Piano Competition close tomorrow, 1 August 2026.

This is an inaugural competition — a first edition, in one of the world’s great cities, with an exceptional jury, life-changing prizes, and a festival that extends well beyond the stage. Thirty pianists will be selected. Flights and accommodation are covered for all of them.

If you are ready, submit today.

capepiano.com/competition/

ApplicationsClose LastDay

29/07/2026

Cape Town is ready. Are you?

The Endler Hall, the Baxter Theatre, and Cape Town City Hall are waiting — grand pianos on stage, ready for the 30 pianists who will compete in the inaugural Cape Town International Piano Competition in March 2027.

Applications close 1 August 2026. Three days left.

If you have been waiting for a sign, this is it.

capepiano.com

CapeTown ApplicationsClose LastChance EndlerHall BaxterTheatre CapeTownCityHall

28/07/2026

The First Prize winner of the Cape Town International Piano Competition will perform on the Gilmore Rising Star Series. We asked Dr Pierre van der Westhuizen to explain what that means — and what The Gilmore, North America’s largest gathering of keyboard artists, is really trying to do.

GilmoreRisingStar

26/07/2026

Win a place on the podium at the Cape Town International Piano Competition — and you will be invited to workshop with the jury of the 2027 Ferruccio Busoni Competition Finals in Bolzano, Italy.

Not as a prize to apply for. Automatic. For every podium winner.

The Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition is one of the most prestigious in the world. Its jury represents the highest level of musical authority and experience. Access to that room — and those conversations — is the kind of opportunity that shapes a career.

This invitation belongs to every 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winner of the Cape Town International Piano Competition.

Performing: Yifan Wu — 1st Prize, 65th Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition.

Full prize details at capepiano.com.
Applications close 1 August 2026.

YoungPianists ClassicalMusic Prizes

25/07/2026

Watch it transform.

Artist Ras Silas Motse painted the Piano Graveyard Revival’s latest donated piano at Wespoort Primary School — and then Nina Schumann and Eldred Schilder performed for the children who will play it.

This is what the Piano Graveyard Revival looks like in motion.

Get in touch if you have a piano ready to change a child’s life.

NinaSchumann EldredSchilder MusicEducation SouthAfricanArt

24/07/2026

The Gilmore is unlike any other institution in the piano world. Its Artist Award — a $300,000 grant, likened by the New York Times to the MacArthur “genius” grant — is awarded through a process that is entirely anonymous. An international committee travels the world, attending performances in secret, without the pianist’s knowledge. Winners only find out when they receive the call.

Pierre serves as a competition consultant to the Cape Town International Piano Competition, and our First Prize winner will perform on the Gilmore Rising Star Series as part of the prize package.

We asked him why he chose to support this competition — and how it aligns with his vision for young pianists.

More from our conversation with Pierre coming soon.

GilmoreRisingStar PianoCompetition YoungPianists

We are proud to add the Cape Town International Piano Competition Social Impact Prize to our suite of special prizes.At ...
22/07/2026

We are proud to add the Cape Town International Piano Competition Social Impact Prize to our suite of special prizes.

At the heart of Cape Piano’s vision is a belief that classical music belongs to everyone. The Cape Piano Festival — which runs alongside the competition — exists to act on that belief, bringing live music to communities across Cape Town who have had little or no access to it. Every selected participant takes part. It is not judged as part of the competition, but it is fundamental to what this competition stands for.

The $1,000 Social Impact Prize goes to the participant who embraces that most fully.

Full prize details at capepiano.com.

Entries close 1 Aug.

YoungPianists CapePianoFestival

20/07/2026

The semi-finals of the Cape Town International Piano Competition will be held at the Baxter Theatre Concert Hall — and we were lucky enough to get a private tour from Marketing Manager Fahiem Stellenboom.

Built in 1977 at the foot of the University of Cape Town, the Baxter has been one of Cape Town’s most important cultural spaces for fifty years and is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning theatre. Its Concert Hall was purpose-designed for acoustics, seating 638 under a distinctive floating roof.

But the Baxter’s significance goes beyond its architecture. During apartheid, it was one of the few venues in South Africa that refused to comply with racial segregation — presenting multiracial, progressive work at a time when all other non-racial interactivity was banned or censored. The first in*******al kiss on a South African stage took place here, during its first production of Miss Julie in 1985.

It is a building that has always represented the power of bringing people together through performance.

In March 2027, this is where the field of 30 narrows. The semi-final rounds take place here before six finalists take the stage at Cape Town City Hall with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.

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