12th INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION OF FRIBOURG
Competition procedure
| Friday 7th March | ||
| 13h00 – 17h00 | Competition of Degrees 1 and 2 | |
| 19h30 | Opening concert | |
| Saturday 8th March | ||
| 10h00 – 14h00 | Competition of Degrees 3, 4 and 5 | |
| 17h30 | Prize-winners’ Concert |
Friday 7th March 2025 7h30 pm
Opening concert of the 12th International Piano Competition of Fribourg
Winners 1st Prizes of our previous competitions
Raphaël BOLLENGIER – Shuhan CHEN – Xichen LIN – Alexandre RESENDE – Gaston SCHADT
Jury
Florian Koltun / Germany
The German pianist and music manager Florian Koltun studied at university of music in Cologne and at the University of Music Trossingen by Prof. Ilja Scheps and Tomislav Baynov. His active concert work started at the age of 14 when already calling attention to himself by winning several first prizes at the German competition Jugend musiziert as well as the national Bach Competition in Köthen.
He is 1st Prize winner of several international piano competitions : Caraglio International Piano Competition(I), International piano competition for young pianists (LU), Henri Herman Concours in Maastricht (NL), International piano competition Notes in harmony in Bettona (I).
Florian Koltun is regularly a welcome guest at diverse well-known concert places in Germany, Belgium, Netherland, Italy, France, Spain or China.
He is artistic director diffrent concert series and festivals in Germany (Heinsberg, Aachen, Windeck, Geilenkirchen, Boltenhagen and Monschau) and gave several masterclasses at different music universities in China and Europe since 2012.
Michel Runtz / Switzerland – France
French-Swiss composer and pianist, Michel Runtz is Founding President of the Association Jeune Musique and the Fribourg International Piano Competition, and Co-founder of the Sino-Swiss International Piano Competition of Shanghai.
Michel Runtz has already performed his works in China, France, Italy, Morocco, Poland, Russia and Switzerland. His compositions are increasingly interpreted at international competitions and concerts.
In 2018, he was awarded the Claude Blancpain Foundation Prize (Switzerland).
Michel Runtz has just finalised the composition of an opera based on Yasmina Khadra’s work, Cousine K.
June 2025 – Guest composer at the Iitti Music Festival / Finland
July 2025 – Works for piano 4 hands will be played by Akiko Ebi & Kôtarô Fukuma at Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo / Japan
September 2025 – Instrumental workshops and concert based on its works at the Kathmandu Conservatory / Nepal
Akemi Alink / Japan
Akemi Alink was born in Japan. She won prizes in national and international piano competitions and performed in important halls. She is also active in Chamber Music and Lieder Accompaniment.
Since 2012, she forms a duo with German Mezzo-Soprano Stephanie Gericke. They are giving Lieder recitals in Europe and Japan.
Apart from her performances, Akemi also teaches and gave masterclasses in Europe, Japan and the USA.
As a writer, she contributes articles for books and magazines in Japan and Europe. Since 2013, she has been writing a series of articles Competition reports from across the world for the monthly piano magazine Chopin in Japan.
She has been invited as a jury member at international piano and chamber music competitions in Europe, North and South America.
Akemi Alink is a Board member of the Alink-Argerich Foundation and frequently gives advice to young pianists.
For any information, please contact us:
AGE LIMITS / PIANO SOLO
Level 1: 11 years old / Candidates born after March 7, 2013
Level 2: 13 years old / Candidates born after March 7, 2011
Level 3: 15 years old / Candidates born after March 7, 2009
Level 4: 18 years old / Candidates born after March 7, 2006
Level 5: 21 years old / Candidates born after March 7, 2003 NEW
PIANO 4 HANDS
Exceptionally, for this 12th competition, there will be no 4-Hand Piano category.
We warmly thank our partners
