189 Dear Competitors, honored Jury members, followers and audience, Welcome to the 17th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. A look at the pianists performing on the best stages in the world shows that several began their careers at the Rubinstein Competition: from Emanuel Ax, our first winner in 1974, through Daniil Trifonov to Juan Pérez Floristán, our latest winner in 2021. Each edition of our competition is always accompanied by a concern: is the time that has passed since the last Competition enough to provide a sufficient number of extraordinary candidates for the new Competition? The fear this time was greater than ever due to the proximity of the COVID-19 pandemic and due to the short period, only two years, that has passed since the last Competition. Happily, all fears were completely misplaced. I don’t remember a competition where the concentration of extraordinary candidates was so high. The screening committee decided, because of this, to increase the number of competitors accepted for the 17th competition to 39. The Competition Jury, including some of the world’s leading musicians, come from all over the world; they aim to discover pianists whose music lies deep in their soul, and whose technical ability enables them to express their heart’s desire and touch the audience with their playing. Over the years, the Competition management’s recognition of the significant mission we have undertaken is growing stronger: it is not enough to award prizes, however valuable they may be; we must do everything we can to advance the careers of our winners, help them make it and flourish throughout the world. For this purpose, we produce concerts for the winners in major venues worldwide (in London, New York and other cities), organize concert tours, present the Competition winners in meetings with orchestra managers, musical institutions, recording companies, agents and promoters, and recommend signing contracts with the winners in order to advance their careers. My gratitude goes to the donors of the awards who responded to our request and dedicated additional amounts to finance this activity. The Competition is a celebration for lovers of music in general and piano in particular. The last Competition had to be conducted in a hybrid format due to the pandemic. In 2023 we revert to the live, in-person format, where for three weeks, Tel Aviv rejoices with the audience who come from all around the country and from abroad. We welcome you, young pianists, to the Competition, to express your music, delight and impress the audience and the Jury, have a great time and, of course, win prizes. Yours, Ariel Cohen, Artistic Director Greetings צילום: נילי אהרונסון
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