For 2025 preliminary round and national round, all contestants must meet the age requirements at July 1st, 2025. Their current age before July 1st, 2025, will determine the category they must compete in. For example, if the student turns 18 on July 1st or after, he/she will compete in the adult category.  

Special Reminder: Participants advancing to the 2026 International Final Round Competition will be automatically regrouped based on their age as of July 1, 2026. If they exceed the age limit for their group at that time, they will not be eligible to register. Participants are advised to pay special attention during the initial registration.

 FINALS AWARDS (In-person competition)

1. Concert Contract
   The 1st place winners in professional category will have the opportunity to play with professional String Quartet for selected piano concerto works. After discussing with the competition committee, the winners of the Professional Category will be eligible to sign a contract as an IPPA Artist, and engaged to perform recital tours in Italy, China, South America, Canada and the United States. IPPA will be responsible for the advertisement and promotion of the IPPA Engagement Artist. 

2. Cash Prizes，Certificates，Trophies and Medals.

Professional Artist Category – Adult (Group A)

The First Place Winner will get 1000 USD, a trophy and certificate of award.
The Second Place Winner will get 800 USD, a trophy and certificate of award.
The Third Place Winner will get 300 USD, a trophy and certificates of award.

Professional Artist Category – Youth (Groups B/C)

The First Place Winner of each group will get 500 USD, a trophy and certificates of award.
The Second Place Winner of each group will get 300 USD, a trophy and certificates of award.
The Third Place Winner of each group will get 200 USD, a trophy and certificates of award.

Young Artist Category

The First Place Winner of each group will get 200 USD, medal and certificates of award.
The Second Place Winner of each group will get 100 USD, medal and certificates of award.
The Third Place Winner of each group will get 50 USD, medal and certificates of award.

Chamber Music Category

The First Place Winner of each group will get 200 USD, medal and certificates of award.

Note: please be aware, all cash prizes for the IPPA Conero Piano Competition will be delivered via check (U.S. only) or bank transfer. PayPal is also available. Prize recipients are responsible for paying any money transfer fees that may be incurred; depending on the transfer method, the amount received may be less than the face value of the prize. 

3. All finalist candidates will receive detailed performance comments from the jury committee.

4. Recommendation letters

The member of Jury Panel would provide recommendation letters for winners, for the purpose of competition application or graduate school application.

5. Special prizes and scholarship opportunities.

Some specific outstanding performances which attract attention from the jury, will be awarded Most Distinguished Performance of (name of piece).

FINALS AWARDS (Online Competition )

Honor Recital and Award Ceremony: The first and second place winners in all categories will be invited to Recanati, Italy for the Award Ceremony and Honor Recital on July 31st. All participants will receive a digital certificate and detailed comments from the jury. There are no fees to participate in the Honor Recital, but all invited prizewinners must cover their travel and accommodation expenses.

Cash Prizes and Scholarships:

• Professional Artist Category – Adult (Group A):
  
  • 1st Place Winner: $1200 USD (including $200 cash award and $1000 festival scholarship) for ALL IPPA Festival.
  • 2nd Place Winner: $600 USD (including $100 cash award and $500 festival scholarship) for ALL IPPA Festival.
  • 3rd Place Winner: $300 USD (including $50 cash award and $250 festival scholarship) for ALL IPPA Festival.
• Professional Artist Category – Youth (Groups B/C):
  
  • 1st Place Winner: $600 USD (including $100 cash award and $500 festival scholarship) forALL IPPA Festival.
  • 2nd Place Winner: $400 USD (including $80 cash award and $320 festival scholarship) for ALL IPPA Festival.
  • 3rd Place Winner: $200 USD (including $50 cash award and $150 festival scholarship) for ALL IPPA Festival.
• Young Artist Category:
  
  • 1st Place Winner of each group: $200 USD (including $50 cash award and $150 festival scholarship) for ALL IPPA Festival.
• Chamber Music Category:
  
  • 1st Place Winner of each group: $100 USD cash prize.

Competition Regulations

1. The 2025-2026 IPPA Conero International Piano Competition consists of three rounds: the Preliminary Round and National Round, which will take place from March 2025 to May 2026, and the International Final Round, which will be held in July 2026.
2. The Preliminary round and National round of the 2025 IPPA International Piano Competition has Indonesia Division, China Division,  United States Division, Canada Division, Turkey Division, South America Division and Online Division (For all the other countries). Please double-check the dates and rules in your division.
3. Preliminary round and national round competition will apply to the division’s own rules. International final round will apply the common rules and regulations for all candidates.
4. Preliminary Round and National Round Competitions are organized by individual organization, the organization should be authorized by IPPA.  International Final Round competition is operated by IPPA Headquarter in the United States. 
5. Participating in each round of competition are voluntary; eligible candidates should complete the application and submit the fee before the deadline. 
6. If applying for more than one category in the competition, applicants must complete separate applications and pay the required fees for each category.
7. All divisions in the National Round Competition and International Final Round Competition should be performed from memory except Chamber Division.
8. Piano concertos, self-composed pieces, or transcriptions done by the performer are not accepted in solo repertoire.
9. Repeats are not required except the place marked with D.C.
10. Judges’ decisions are final.
11. Changes would not be allowed once the repertoires are submitted.
12. The IPPA Team retains copyright of performance video, audio, and pictures of the competition and the award ceremony. The IPPA Team has the legal right to use these materials.
13. The competition committee reserves all the right for the final interpretation of the regulations.
14. Competition awards will be subject to applicable taxes and transfer fees. Recipients must complete tax paperwork when required in order to receive the award. If recipient is not responsive to emails about payment method for receiving the prize, it will be sent via PayPal to the email address on the application. If the payment is unclaimed within 30 days, the prize has been lost.
15. Candidates in the preliminary round and national rounds will compete only against candidates in their own divisions (E.g., Canada candidates will compete against Canada candidates). The final round will be international and will include all selected finalists from all divisions.
16. Candidates are required to join the division they reside in. If they do not reside in the specific divisions, they will need to join the Other Countries division.
17.  From the national round, every Division’s candidates need to achieve Gold Award to proceed to the international final round.  This will apply to all of the categories.
18. Finalists who participate Online National Round Competition and Online International Final Round Competition, will receive electronic certificates and comments. 
19. Any eligible candidates can proceed either in-person or online competition. However, they will apply to each award rules in either online or in-person competition. 
20.  Compositions for “prepared piano” are not permitted.
21.  All the online and in-person International Final Round Competition apply the same repertoire and category rules. 
22. Any misrepresentation by a candidate will result in automatic disqualification.  

Recording Instruction:

1. Recording Link: Via the listed flat forms: YouTube/Google Drive/Wetransfer/Dropbox/OneDrive. Please ensure that the link is shareable without requiring access permission. (for google drive, click “Get Link”, change “General Access” to “Anyone with the link”, then click share the link)
2. Your recording should remain unedited, except in cases where professional microphones were used separately from the camera. In such instances, you may synchronize the audio with the video.
3. Please make sure that the recording is landscape and include the whole side profile of the competitor (please see picture below for reference). Once we receive your recording, we will promptly forward it to the jury for evaluation.