All You Need to Know About Music Competitions: Videos, Documentaries, and Films

If you are not familiar with the world of classical music you might not know that competitions are an important, if not pivotal part of the career of a professional musician. Throughout this post, we’ll explain why music competitions are essential for performers, with videos, documentaries, and films as examples.

Winning a music competition

A path to become a professional classic musician is very similar to professional athletes. And winning an international competition means you get the chance to make a break through and get into the spotlight.

Not only getting financial means to be able to continue doing your work and further development. But also getting opportunities for future collaborations and concerts.

We can observe that in many careers, such as Martha Argerich. Considered one of the best pianists of her generation, winning the International Chopin Competition in 1965 she established a stellar rise and career that still lasts to this day.

If you have the chance to hear her playing live, make sure to check her out. If you would like to know more about her life and her music endeavors, we recommend watching a documentary shot by one of her daughters: Bloody Daughter.

Competitions nowadays

If you are curious to know what it is like behind the stage and the preparations for these performances nowadays, you can watch another documentary. It’s from 2023, called Pianoforte. It follows along several candidates in different stages of the competition, their backgrounds, origins, different approaches, opinions, etc.

If you would like to get some realistic sneak peek into the preparation and everything what it takes, you might find interesting the following videos as well:

Music competitions as a perfect thriller setting

Dominique Deruddere, a movie director from Belgium, has made a big success with The Chapel. The movie is based on an actual event, the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition.

This competition was initiated by Eugène Ysaÿe and Queen Elisabeth in 1937 with the purpose of discovering young talented musicians. One of the highlights of the competition is the stay at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel. There, the finalists of the competition spend a week studying a new mandatory piece, without any contact with the outside world.

This setting creates a perfect ground for a psychological thriller!

Now that you have all this material to get information about music competitions… What do you think about competing in music?