Russia’s Tchaikovsky Competition expelled from the World Federation of International Music Competitions

The XIII International Tchaikovsky Music Competition. Picture: Alamy

By Sophia Alexandra Hall

The majority of the federation’s members voted to expel the world-renowned Russian music competition.

The International Tchaikovsky Competition has become one of the best-known and most respected music competitions in the world.

However, on 13 April 2022, the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) decided with an overwhelming majority of member votes to exclude the International Tchaikovsky Competition from its membership with immediate effect.

In a press release posted on the federation’s website after the vote, the WMIFC shared that, “Many laureates of the Tchaikovsky Competition are among the leading artists of today.

“However, in the face of Russia’s brutal war and humanitarian atrocities in Ukraine, the WFIMC as an apolitical organisation cannot support or have as a member, a competition financed and used as a promotional tool by the Russian regime.”

The international competition based in Russia features six categories: piano, violin, cello, voice, brass, and woodwind, which musicians aged between 16 and 32 years of age can enter.

Multiple international soloists who have had their careers launched by the competition, include pianists Van Cliburn, Vladimir Ashkenazy and John Ogdon, and violinists Gidon Kremer, Victoria Mullova, and Vladimir Spivakov.

The WFIMC continued, “While our first and foremost goal must always be the active support of young artists, and right now particularly Ukrainian artists, the WFIMC affirms its previous statement against blanket sanctions on all Russians and against the discrimination and exclusion of individual artists, based on their nationality.

“In times of war especially, we believe it to be essential to maintain a dialogue with those who trust us and who share our values, the same way as we trust them.”

The WFIMC, founded in 1957, is a global network of over 110 internationally recognised organisations dedicated to identifying the most promising young talents in music.

The Tchaikovsky competition is held every four years and began in 1958. According to its website, the inception of the competition was of “peace-making importance”, due to “the global political situation at the time”.

First published at Classic FM, April 21, 2022