International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A.

Welcome Pianists!

2025
International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A. 
Competition (Semifinals): August 4, 2025

Festival, including Final Competition Rounds: August 4 – August 8, 2025

Announcing the 2025 International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A., taking place at the foothills of the majestic and colorful Rocky Mountains of Colorado, featuring an international competition and festival for pianists of all nationalities. The Semifinal Rounds of the competition will take place all day on Monday, Aug. 4.  The festival and all Final Rounds will take place from August 4 - August 8, 2025 at the University Center for the Arts, Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado (1400 Remington Street). Fort Collins is located approximately one hour north of Denver and within a one-hour’s drive of the beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Preliminary Round of the Odyssiad® is held online and judged by professionals around the United States. Pianists must submit their application materials ONLINE by the deadline of June 9, 2025. Preliminary Round judges will select the Odyssiad® competitors that advance to the Semifinal Round in Fort Collins, Colorado on Monday, August 4. The Final Rounds of the Odyssiad® take place during the 2025 International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A. (August 4-August 8, 2025).

The ODYSSIAD®, "A Journey to the Performance of a Lifetime," is an international competition for pianists with both Solo and Concerto Divisions. A panel of judges rates each performer separately for Technical Merit and Artistic Merit in an Olympic-styled judging format before a live audience. 

The 2025 Odyssiad® will introduce three (3) NEW components to keep the Odyssiad® fresh and newly invigorated:

 1) Master Teachers: Semi-Private Lessons will be offered as an integral component of the 2025 festival (e.g., Mikhail Voskresensky, Charlotte Hu, and others).
2. A New Junior Complete Concerto Division: Junior Young Artist Complete Concerto Division (18 and under).  The winner will be featured in a performance of a complete concerto with the Fort Collins Health and Wellness Community Orchestra (the previous Single-Movement Concerto Division has been discontinued).
3. A New Piano and Chamber Music Component: The 2025 Odyssiad® will feature The Piano Trio with Guest Artists, Zuill Bailey (Grammy Award-winning Cellist, Bryan Wallick (Horowitz Gold Medalist), and others.

The Odyssiad® Competition:
The Solo Division offers Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, cash awards, and special prizes to the winners in three age levels:
All Ages as of June 9, 2025.

I. Level A (Ages 13 and younger).

• $500 (Gold), $300 (Silver), $200 (Bronze)

II. Level B (Ages 14-18)

• $1,000 (Gold), $500 (Silver), and $250 (Bronze)  

III. Level C Young Artist (Ages 19-35)

• $5,000 (Gold), $2,000 (Silver), and $1,000 (Bronze)

The Solo Division also offers The Linda Leirfallom Brewer Award for “Best Performance of Chopin” ($500).


The Complete Concerto Division offers Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, cash awards, and special prizes to the winners in two age levels:

I. Junior Young Artist Complete Concerto Division (Ages 18 and under) - * NEW THIS YEAR

• $1,000 (Bobbie and Paul Mielke Gold Medal), plus a performance with the Fort Collins Health and Wellness Community Orchestra
• $500 (Silver)
• $250 (Bronze)

• $3,000 (Gold), plus a performance with the Boulder Symphony in Boulder, Colorado, Devin Patrick Hughes conducting
• $2,000 (Silver)
• $1,000 (Bronze)

Guest Artists for the 2025 Odyssiad® Festival include cellist Zuill Bailey (Grammy-Award Winning Cellist) with Bryan Wallick (Horowitz Gold Medalist), Professor, Colorado State University); the Silver Medalist of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (to be determined in May/June of 2025); Yaron Kohlberg, President of Piano/Cleveland and the Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC); Dongni Xie, Gold Medalist, 2017 International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A.; and Maxim Lando, Bronze Medalist, 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC).

Additional Master Teachers, Guest Artists, and Judges during the daily festival events include the Legendary Russian pianist and teacher, Mikhail Voskresensky, described by the London Royal College of Music as "a Colossus bestrides the Royal College of Music".  Voskresensky immigrated with his family to the U.S. in 2022 to protest the Russian/Ukrainian war.  Other Guest Artists and Judges include Master Teacher, Charlotte Hu, concert pianist and Founder/President of the Philadelphia Young Pianists' Academy (PYPA); Official Odyssiad® Staff Accompanists, Mikhail Berestnov, Daria Kiseleva, and Jooyeon Chang; Devin Patrick Hughes (Conductor, Boulder Symphony and Symphony of the Rockies); Odyssiad® Competition Masters of Ceremonies, Scott Wheeler, Allison Pietras, and Brooke Elzey; and many others.

The 5-day Odyssiad® Festival includes the LIVE Semifinal and Final Rounds of the Odyssiad® Solo and Concerto Competitions (free and open to the public), special semi-private lesson sessions by Master Teachers and Judges for Odyssiad® laureates that don't advance to the Final Round of the competition, and riveting evening concerts by international piano competition prize-winners and world-renowned concert artists.

For complete Solo and Concerto Division Preliminary Round Guidelines, including repertoire requirements, please select "Odyssiad® Competition Application" as the program under "Start an Application" on the left side of this page. If you have any questions, please contact Odyssiad® Competition Directors, Dr. Cindy Lindeen-Martin and Dr. Iris Zhang, through the Acceptd site.
     
Dr. Cindy Lindeen-Martin and Dr. Iris Zhang
Competition Co-Directors
International Keyboard Odyssiad® and Festival, U.S.A.

For technical assistance please check out the Acceptd Applicant Support Help Desk!