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

Welcome Pianists!

2024
International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A. 
Competition (Semifinals): August 3, 2024
Festival, including Final Competition Rounds: August 5 – August 10, 2024

Announcing the 2024 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 Round of the competition will take place on Saturday, August 3.  The festival and all Final Rounds will take place from August 5 - August 10, 2024 at the University Center for the Arts, Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado. 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 15, 2024. Preliminary Round judges will select the Odyssiad® competitors that advance to the Semifinal Round in Fort Collins, Colorado on Saturday, August 3. The Final Rounds of the Odyssiad® take place during the 2024 International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A. (August 5-August 10, 2024).

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 Solo Division offers Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, cash awards, and special prizes to the winners in three age levels:

Level A (Ages 13 and younger)

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

Level B (Ages 14-18) 

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

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 Concerto Division offers Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, cash awards, and special prizes to the winners in two age levels:
Complete Concerto (ages up to and including age 35) and Single Movement Concerto (age 18 and under).

Complete Concerto Division:

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

Single Movement Concerto Division:

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

Guest Artists for the 2024 Odyssiad® Festival include Inon Barnatan (renowned soloist, curator, and collaborator), Sergei Babayan (First prize: Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Hamamatsu Piano Competition, and the Scottish International Piano Competition), Croatian star Kemal Gekic, cellist Zuill Bailey (Grammy-Award Winner) with Bryan Wallick (Horowitz Gold Medalist, Kyiv; Colorado State University), Clayton Stephenson (Young American pianist & Van Cliburn Finalist), Saehyun Kim (First prize, Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists), and Vyacheslav Gryaznov (Concert Pianist, Arranger, and Composer).

Additional guest artists, presenters, and judges during the daily festival events include Jiwon Han (IKOF Official Staff Accompanist), Jooyeon Chang (IKOF Official Staff Accompanist), Devin Patrick Hughes (Conductor, Boulder Symphony and Arapahoe Philharmonic), Jung-Eun Kang (Jeju, Korea, Odyssiad® competition Judge), Heather Lanners (Odyssiad® competition Judge), Thomas Lanners (Festival Presenter & Odyssiad® competition Judge), Michael Posch (Festival Presenter & Odyssiad® competition Judge), Karine Garibova (Chamber Music Panel Session), and Scott Wheeler (Odyssiad® competition MC).

The 6-day Odyssiad® Festival includes masterclasses, presentations on special topics, two matinee concerts, a panel discussion on ”Chamber Music with Piano", the LIVE Semifinal and Final Rounds of the Odyssiad® Solo and Concerto Competitions, and five nights of riveting evening concerts by world-renowned pianists.

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 our Acceptd Applicant Support Help Desk!