15 – 24 February

The 34th edition of the MARIA CALLAS GRAND PRIX international piano competition already concluded. The final event took place at the Athens MEGARON of Music in the evening of February 24 and was executed with the accompaniment of the Jassy Symphony Orchestra under Conductor Gheorghe Costing.

The required heavy program, seven concertos and a 55 minutes recital, kept the adrenaline of the competitors at high levels.  Well prepared candidates coming from all over the world  have tried their skills in four rounds that lasted 11 long days,  placing the jurors in a difficult decision point. 

The Jury Committee consisting of great pianists and pedagogues has done a great job through the different stages and has given the best of their judgment receiving the approval of the audience.

President of the Jury was Dmitri Bashkirov, Russia. 
Other members were- in alphabetical order- Domna Evnouchidou, Greece, Kostas Gaitanos, Greece, Karl Heinz Kammerling, Germany, Jacques Lagarde, France, Norbert Nozy, Belgium, Maria Tipo, Italy, and Martino Tirimo, Cyprus / England.
 Jurors Vladimir Krainev and Huseyin Sermet, the participation of which we had already announced, unfortunately, had to cancel the last moment.
In spite to the outstanding level of the three finalists, the Jury, in a wish to keep at very high standard a competition bearing the name of  Maria Callas, decided unanimously not to award the Grand Prix.   

The prizes were awarded to the three finalists as follows:

A 2nd Prize was awarded to Mei Yi FOO, Malaysia and two equal 3rd Prizes went to Eleni MAVROMOUSTAKI, Cyprus and Galina Tchistyakova, Russia.

The organizing committee of the competition feels very happy with the pleasant atmosphere among the jury members, the advanced level of the contestants and the heart-warming involvement of the audience that waited patiently for the results, which were received with approval.  Also, the committee expresses their gratitude for the excellent cooperation with the Cultural Organization of the Municipality of Athens.