Regulations – ISCHIA International Piano Competition
PIANO CATEGORIES ( SECTION I) & PIANO FOUR HANDS ( SECTION II)
Par. 1 The competition is open to young italian or foreign musicians.
Par. 2 The main goal of the competition is to promote musical culture, encouraging youth to study music.
Par. 3 Structure and Eligibility
The competition consists of one phase :
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Live Competition, from 9th July to 12th July 2026, will take place in “ VILLA ARBUSTO ” , in Via Angelo Rizzoli in the municipality of LACCO AMENO Ischia Island , Naples, Italy.
The competition is open to pianists of any nationality.
Par. 4 Examinations will be public and divided into the following sections and categories:
Section 1 : Piano solo Section 2 : Piano Four hands
Cat. Junior up to 8 full yrs. old Max. time 5 mins . Cat. G medium age up to 12 years old Max. time 10 mins .
Cat. A up to 10 full yrs. old Max. time 8 mins . Cat. H medium age up to 16 years old Max. time 15 mins .
Cat. B up to 13 full yrs. old Max. time 10 mins. Cat. I medium age up to 21 years old Max. time 20 mins .
Cat. C up to 16 full yrs. old Max. time 15 mins. Cat. L from 22 years old onwards with
Cat. D up to 19 full yrs. old Max. time 20 mins no age limit Max. time 25 mins .
Cat. E up to 24 full yrs. old Max. time 25 mins.
Par. 5 Competitors must enroll in just one category: however, solists from
Section 1 are allowed to take part also in the Section 2 and in the Section 3 and viceversa.
Par. 6 The association may apply some changes to this announcement in the future and possibly suppress a category, if
competitors are not enough. In that case, the attendance fee will be refunded. Furthermore, the association
will notbe responsible for any damages or losses due to competitors, during all the competition.
Par. 7 All competitors can enroll in higher categories, if they think consider themselves able.
Par. 8 Competitors will be allowed to test the piano following a timetable provided by the association.
Par. 9 Before any examination, competitors will be asked by the examination board to show the following documents:
1) ID card 2) Two copies of the sheet music program. Simplified piano pieces are not allowed.
Par. 10 Competitors will be examined in alphabetical order, beginning from a letter randomly chosen on the first day of
the competition. Exception made for Section 3 in this case the starting letter will be drawn 8 days before the
opening of the competition, in order to ease the staying of the competitors.
Par. 11 For all competitors of section 1 and 2 the program is free choice repertoire.
For competitors of Cat. Junior , A,B,C and Section 2 the performance by memory is NOT strictly necessary;
for all remaining categories the performance by memory is compulsory.
Par. 12 Competitors will be able to test the piano checking a timetable that will be available on the website
www.ischiapianocompetition.com a few days before the beginning of the competition.
Competitors are kindly invited to inform themselves about .
Par. 13 Results will be published at the end of the examinations for each category.
Par. 14 Competitors who have been taking lessons in the last two years from members of the examination board (or are
related to any of them) are not allowed to take part in the competition. In the application form is strictly
necessary to put the teacher’s name. The full list of the examination board will be available on the website
www.ischiapianocompetition.com
Par.15 The examination board will be formed by musicians, teachers and renowned musical personalities.
Par.16 The examination board may stop players, if the max. time is expired.
Par.17 The board’s decisions are final and irrevocable. The examination board may also decide not to give any prize due
to a low-level general performance of the candidates.
Par. 18 The award ceremony for the First, Second , Third and Fourth winners will be held at the end of the
examination of each category.
Absolute First Prize Winners of each category will take part in the Major Award Ceremony that
will be held on July 12th 2026 at “ VILLA ARBUSTO ”, in via Angelo Rizzoli – Lacco Ameno , Ischia .
Absolute First Prize Winners who won’t be present at the final concert, won’t be awarded any prize.
Par. 19 The calendar of the examinations and the date of convocation (from which each competitor will know the day
and the time of the call for his/her category) will be published on the association website
www.ischiapianocompetition.com
Each candidate, therefore, in order to know the day of convocation, will have to visit the website or call the
secretary of the association “Note sul Mare” (tel. 0039/ 081 5071403 or 0039/ 333 3283159 ) .
“Note sul Mare” will not be responsible in this case; no other forms of convocation are considered.
Par. 20 Candidates will have to provide for their staying during the competition.
Par. 21 Pursuant to Art. 10 of the Law n° 675/96 on Personal Data Protection, the musical association “Note sul Mare”
declares that all requested personal datas will be used only to send informations strictly related to the
competition.
However, pursuant to Art. 1 of the same Law, the owner of the data can forbid its use.
Par. 22 The application to the competition entails the unconditional acceptance of the rules of the present
announcement.
°PRIZES°
Competitors of all sections and categories
FIRST classified (score not less than 95/100 ) 1st prize medal and degree
SECOND classified ( score from 94/100 to 90/100) 2nd prize degree
THIRD classified ( score from 89/100 to 85/100) 3rd prize degree
FOURTH classified (score from 84/100t o 80/100) 4th prize degree
-Each not awarded competitor will be given an Attendance Certificate.
-FIRST ABSOLUTE WINNERS of each category cup and degree (score 99/100-100/100) , will be also awarded the following prizes :
SECTION 1 (Piano solo)
Cat. Junior Scholarship € 60,00 Cat. A Scholarship € 80,00
Cat. B Scholarship € 100,00 Cat. C Scholarship € 140,00
Cat. D Scholarship € 200,00
Cat. E Scholarship € 300,00 - A Concert to be held during the season 2027 . The concert is listed in
“ CLASSICA FESTIVAL NOTE SUL MARE” in Ischia
“ISCHIA ISLAND PRIZE”
For the Category Junior , A , B , C , D and E Scholarship € 200,00
The Prize will be awarded at the discretion of the Jury to one competitor chosen among First Absolutes .
SECTION 2 (Piano Four Hands )
Cat. G Scholarship € 100,00 in two Cat. H Scholarship € 150,00 in two
Cat. I Scholarship € 200,00 in two
Cat. L Scholarship € 400,00 in two And 1 Concert to be held during the season 2027 .
The concert is listed in “ CLASSICA FESTIVAL NOTE SUL MARE” in Ischia
* Just a formal reimbursement is provided for all award concerts.
Par. 23 Private agreements are being made with several musical associations, in order to give prize winners the
opportunity to play in their festivals. – At the end of the Competition the Absolute Winner of the Ischia
Piano Competition will be mentioned.
Par. 24 Recordings , television or radio broadcasting of the performances won’t give competitors any right
to any reward
•PARTICIPATION MODE•
Par. 25 Candidates will have to fill out the application form and send it within and not beyond June 20th 2025
via e- mail to ischiapianocompetition@gmail.com . Proof of payment must be attached to the mail.
•REGISTRATION FEES•
Cat. Junior € 45,00 1^ section Cat. A-B-C € 55,00 1^ section Cat. D-E € 70,00 1^ section
Cat G-H € 90,00 in two 2^ section Cat I-L € 110,00 in two 2^ section
·
Payment must be net of charges banking
The registration fee can be payed by bank transfer: Banca Prossima - C/C n° 69467 headed to
“Associazione Musicale Note sul Mare”
IBAN: IT47S0306909606100000069467 ; BIC/ SWIFT : BCITITMM
Filiale di Milano 20121 - Piazza Paolo Ferrari 10 – Milano
REGISTRATION HOW TO APPLY
Registration deadline: June 20th, 2026
Registrations for the Ischia International Piano Competition can be made by submitting:
- Name, Surname, Place and date of birth, Nationality, Address, Telephone number, Email address, Italian TAX CODE (if available) – If the candidate is under 18, please also provide the information of a parent/guardian using the application form on the "Registration" page.
- A portrait photo for the competition's graphics
-Repertoire
-Copy of the privacy consent form (downloadable HERE (pdf) or HERE (doc))
-The registration fee must be paid net of bank charges.
-The fee can be paid by bank transfer: Banca Prossima - C/C n° 69467 in the name of “Associazione Musicale Note sul Mare”
IBAN: IT91W0335901600100000069467; BIC/SWIFT: BCITITMM
Filiale di Milano 20121 - Piazza Paolo Ferrari 10 – Milano
Candidates must complete the registration form and send it by email to ischiapianocompetition@gmail.com no later than June 20, 2026.
A proof of payment must be attached to the application.
For any information, please contact the secretariat: Tel. +39 0815071403 Mobile Phone +39 3333283159