International Tchaikovsky Competition
The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of age. The competition is named after Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and is an active member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.
The International Tchaikovsky Competition was the first international music competition held in the Soviet Union. For the XIV competition in 2011, Valery Gergiev was appointed the competition's chairman, and Richard Rodzinski, former president of the Van Cliburn Foundation, was appointed general director. A new voting system was instituted, created by mathematician John MacBain, and used by the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the Cleveland International Piano Competition. All rules and regulations also underwent a complete revision. Emphasis was placed on the composition of the jury, which consisted primarily of well-known and respected performing artists. Finally, for all competitions from 2011 forward, a first prize will always be awarded.
The XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition was held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, from June 14 to July 1, 2011, under the auspices of the Russian federal government and its Ministry of Culture. The competition disciplines were piano, violin, cello, and voice. The XV competition took place in June 2015. The XVI competition took place June 17–29, 2019, in Moscow and St. Petersburg; woodwind and brass competition disciplines were added.
Prizes
Cash prizes are awarded to the top-five competitors in each discipline of piano, violin, cello, and to each of the top four competitors in the men's and women's solo vocal categories. First prize is US$30,000; second, US$20,000; third, US$10,000; fourth, US$5,000; and fifth, US$3,000. An additional prize, a Grand Prix of US$100,000, may be awarded to one of the gold medalists deemed outstanding by the juries. Additional awards are given for best performance of the chamber concertos and the commissioned new work.For the 2019 competition, the prizes are as follows:
| Prize | Amount |
| Grand Prix | US$100,000 in addition to the 1st Prize amount, for a total of US$130,000 |
| 1st Prize | US$30,000 and a Gold Medal |
| 2nd Prize | US$20,000 and a Silver Medal |
| 3rd Prize | US$10,000 and a Bronze Medal |
| 4th Prize | US$5,000 and a Diploma |
| 5th Prize | US$3,000 and a Diploma |
| 6th Prize | US$2,000 and a Diploma |
| Best performance of a concerto with a chamber orchestra in Round II | US$2,000 and a Diploma |
History
Held every four years, the first competition, in 1958, included two disciplines – piano and violin. Beginning with the second competition, in 1962, a cello category was added, and the vocal division was introduced during the third competition in 1966. In 1990, a fifth discipline was announced for the IX International Tchaikovsky Competition – a contest for violin makers which traditionally comes before the main competition. In 2019, two new categories were added to the competition, woodwinds and brass.Tianxu An incident
On 25 June 2019, at the final round of the piano category, Chinese competitor Tianxu An was supposed to play Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 followed by Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. However, the scores on the orchestra's and conductor's stands were placed in reversed order and the Rachmaninoff piece was announced first, different from what the pianist requested. Since An didn't understand Russian, he was unaware of the situation. With the piano entry in the Rachmaninoff almost immediate, the performance "began with a failure". Following the incident, jury chair Denis Matsuev invited him to perform the program again, but An declined. The competition made an official apology and the orchestra administration suspended the responsible staff after the event. An was eventually awarded a "special prize" for his confidence and courage.Prize winners
Winners of the prizes and medals awarded in the given year and category.Piano
Violin
| Year | 1st Prize/Gold | 2nd Prize/Silver | 3rd Prize/Bronze |
| 1958 |  Valery Klimov | |  |
| 1962 | Boris Gutnikov |  Shmuel Ashkenasi | Nina Beilina Yoko Kubo |
| 1966 | Viktor Tretiakov | Masuko Ushioda Oleg Kagan | Yoko Sato Oleh Krysa |
| 1970 | Gidon Kremer | Vladimir Spivakov Mayumi Fujikawa | Liana Isakadze |
| 1974 | Not awarded |  Eugene Fodor Ruben Aharonyan Rusudan Gvasaliya |  Marie-Annick NicolasVanya Milanova |
| 1978 | Ilya Grubert Elmar Oliveira |  Mihaela Martin Dylana Jenson | Irina Medvedeva Alexandr Vinnitsky |
| 1982 | Viktoria Mullova Sergei Stadler | Tomoko Kato | Stephanie Chase Andres Cardenes |
| 1986 | Ilya Kaler Raphaël Oleg |  Maxim Fedotov |  Jane Peters |
| 1990 | Akiko Suwanai | | Alyssa Park |
| 1994 | Not awarded |  Anastasia Chebotareva Jennifer Koh |  Marco Rizzi |
| 1998 | |  Latica Honda-Rosenberg | Ichun Pan |
| 2002 | Not awarded |  Tamaki Kawakubo Xi Chen | |
| 2007 | Mayuko Kamio | Nikita Boriso-Glebsky | Yuki Manuela Janke |
| 2011 | Not awarded | Sergey Dogadin Itamar Zorman |  |
| 2015 | Not awarded |  Yu-Chien Tseng |  Alexandra Conunova Haik Kazazyan Pavel Milyukov |
| 2019 | Sergey Dogadin |  Marc Bouchkov | Donghyun Kim |
Cello
| Year | 1st Prize/Gold | 2nd Prize/Silver | 3rd Prize/Bronze |
| 1962 | Natalia Shakhovskaya | Leslie Parnas | Natalia Gutman |
| 1966 | | Stephen Kates Arto Noras | Kenichiro Yasuda |
| 1970 | David Geringas | | Ko Iwasaki |
| 1974 | Boris Pergamenschikov | Ivan Monighetti | Hirofumi Kanno Seta Baltayan |
| 1978 | Nathaniel Rosen | Mari Fudzivara Daniel Veis | Alexander Kniazev Alexander Rudin |
| 1982 |  Antonio Meneses | Alexander Rudin | Georg Faust |
| 1986 | Mario Brunello Kirill Rodin | Suren Bagratuni Martti Rousi | Sara Sant'Ambrogio John Sharp |
| 1990 | Gustav Rivinius |  Françoise Groben Alexander Kniazev | Bion Tsang |
| 1994 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 1998 | Denis Shapovalov | Li-Wei Qin | |
| 2002 | Not awarded | Johannes Moser | Claudius Popp Alexander Chaushian |
| 2007 | Sergey Antonov | Alexander Buzlov |  István Várdai |
| 2011 | Narek Hakhnazaryan | Edgar Moreau |  Ivan Karizna |
| 2015 |  Andrei Ioniță | Alexander Ramm | Alexander Buzlov |
| 2019 | Zlatomir Fung |  | Anastasia Kobekina |
Vocal, female
Vocal, male
Woodwinds
Brass
Grand Prix
| Year | Winner | Category |
| 1994 |  Hibla Gerzmava | Vocal, female |
| 2011 | Daniil Trifonov | Piano |
| 2015 |  Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar | Vocal, male |
| 2019 | Alexandre Kantorow | Piano |