2026 San Francisco Int'l Piano Competition

Professional Artists Category (Age 18-35)

Applications of SFIPC 2025 will open in December!

2024 SFIPC Winner’s performances, click here.

 The 2026 San Francisco International Piano Competition welcomes the pianists of all nationalities!

Location: San Francisco Conservatory of Music

The 2026 SFIPC is thrilled to announce that the competition will take place from May to August. The winners will receive
cash prizes, 2027 Festival Scholarships, and a recital in the first prize winner in Los Angeles in 2027.

The preliminary round will be conducted online, with performances evaluated through submitted videos. Six finalists will be selected to perform live before the judges at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on August 6-7, 2026. Applications and performance videos must be submitted by May 1, 2025.

The total prize for the 2026 competition will exceed $20,000 USD including cash prizes, concert opportunities, and full scholarships of the 2027 Bay PianoFest.  ​

FAQs

Overview

Our mission is to provide a world-class platform where emerging professional pianists can showcase their artistry, engage with a global audience, and further their performance careers. Competitors will present diverse programs that demonstrate depth, versatility, and compelling musical interpretation.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The 2026 San Francisco International Music Competition and Festival is thrilled to announce that it will take place from August 6-August 7, at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, CA, USA. 

All stages of the Competition will be open to the public. 

The competition is open to pianists of all nationalities and ages by the application deadline, May 1, 2026.

Eligibility

First-prize winners of the past SFIPC (previous AIPC) in professional artists category are not eligible to apply.

Current or previous students of jury MAY enter the competition. However, the jury will NOT be a part of voting the final decision of his/her students if the student has studied with a specific jury member in the past 2 years. 

International competitors may need visas in certain cases. Therefore, applicants are advised to seek guidance from the nearest United States Embassy or Consulate.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in this document, the SFIPC reserves the right to make changes if circumstances necessitate.

All selected contestant names will be announced to the public in June 2026.

A speaker at a podium addressing an audience with seven individuals seated on stage behind him, and a banner reading 'San Francisco International Piano Competition' on the left.

Important Date

  • December 15, 2025 - Applications Opens

  • April 1, 2026 - Applications Submission Deadline (Early Bird)

  • May 1, 2026 - Applications Submission Deadline

  • May 15, 2026 - Finalists announced (Online) 

  • June 15, 2026 - Last day to make changes to repertoire 

  • August 3, 2026 - Festival Opening Ceremony 

  • August 6-7, 2026 - Final Round Competition

  • August 7, 2026 - Awards Ceremony 

Repertoire Details

Preliminary Round (Video recording Only)

20-25 mins repertoire 

  • One Virtuosic Etude

  • One Movement of a classical Sonata (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, or Schubert)

  • Free Choice of Repertoire 

Final Round (Live: San Francisco Conservatory of Music)

6-12 Finalists, 35-40 mins repertoire 

  • One movement of a classical sonata (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert)

  • Free Choice of Repertoire

Programs from the preliminary round may be repeated in the finals. 

All finalists’ performances are open to the public. 

The 2026 SFIPC International Jury

*Click to view their complete biographies

First Round

  • Bernadene Blaha (Professor, University of Southern California)

  • Eric Zuber (Professor, Michigan State University)

  • Mina Perry (Founder/Director, Southern California Music Institute)

Final Round

Competition Prize

Professional Artists Category (Age 18-35)

First Prize:

  • $3000 Cash Prize
  • Trophy & Medal
  • Certificate Diploma
  • San Francisco Solo Recital invitation to perform in 2027 Young Artist Series
  • Automatically Qualify and Full ($2800) Scholarship to 2027 Bay PianoFest at SF (Include 4 masterclasses/lessons with world-renowned artists, and unlimited access to all events)

Second Prize:

  • $2000 Cash Prize
  • Trophy & Medal
  • Certificate Diploma
  • San Francisco Winners Concert Invitation to 2026 Young Artist Series
  • Automatically Qualify with Full unlimited access to all 2027 Bay PianoFest events at SF (Masterclasses, Concert, Lectures, Forum, and etc.), and $500 scholarship toward.

Third Prize:

  • $1000 Cash Prize
  • Trophy & Medal
  • Certificate Diploma
  • San Francisco Winners Concert Invitation to 2026 Young Artist Series
  • Automatically Qualify with Full unlimited access ($750 value) to all 2027 Bay PianoFest events at SF (Masterclasses, Concert, Lectures, Forum, and etc.), and $300 scholarship toward.
Applications for 2026 will Open Soon

2024 Winners

  • A young man with glasses in a black suit and white shirt standing with arms crossed in front of a blurred background featuring a banner and some bicycles.

    Parker Van Ostrand, USA

    Gold Medalist

    Parker Van Ostrand currently studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Garrick Ohlsson and Yoshikazu Nagai. In the 2024-25 season, Parker performed with the San Diego Symphony, the Sacramento Philharmonic, Symphony Parnassus, and the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. Last season, he performed with the Camellia Symphony, Symphony Parnassus, the South Arkansas Symphony, the Shreveport Symphony, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra as winner of their 2023 Concerto Competition.

    Final Round Performance
  • A young man in a black suit with arms crossed, standing in front of a blurred background with a banner and wall art.

    Alexander (Sandro) Tsereteli, Georgia

    Silver Medalist

    Alexander (Sandro) Tsereteli, 24, is currently completing the Master of Musical Arts program at the Yale School of Music where he studies under the tutelage of Prof. Boris Slutsky. He has been playing the piano since the age of 4, and began his composition studies at the age of 7.

    Tsereteli has performed at numerous prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center REACH and Millenium Stage, The Kosciuszko Foundation, Arena Stage, and the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the Lincoln Center.

    Final Round Performance
  • A young woman in a black sleeveless dress stands with her arms crossed, smiling softly at the camera, in an indoor setting with a blurred background and a banner behind her.

    Sunmin Kim, South Korean

    Bronze Medalist

    Sunmin Kim, a pianist and composer born in South Korea, began his piano journey at the age of 10. He has studied with HaeSun Paik at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and with Sergei Babayan at the Juilliard School in New York. He has received numerous awards in prestigious piano competitions in Korea and internationally, including the Ewha Kyunghyang Competition, the Busan Music Competition, the Fou Tsong International Concerto Competition, and more.

    Final Round Performance
  • Young girl in a dark sleeveless dress playing a grand piano on a stage, with her right hand raised and microphones set up nearby.
  • Group of people on stage at an award ceremony, seated and clapping, with a table of awards and a piano on the left.
  • A man playing a grand piano on stage in front of an audience, with tall windows and a cityscape in the background.
  • A group of people having a conversation indoors, with a clock on the wall showing 4:08.
  • A woman in a green dress playing a grand piano on a stage.
  • Group of people sitting in a row at an awards ceremony, with glass trophies and medals on the table in front of them.
  • Five people sitting around a table in a meeting room, reviewing documents, with coffee cups and water bottles on the table.
  • Three women and one man standing on a stage during an award ceremony, with the women holding awards and medals around their necks. A man to the left is clapping.
  • A group of people at a social gathering, standing and talking around a table with drinks and snacks, in a room with wooden panels.