Canada’s Concours Musical International de Montréal Announces 2024 Piano Finalists 

Six finalists have been selected to perform with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and conductor Xian Zhang from May 15–16, 2024

The 2024 piano edition of the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) is currently underway in Quebec. Since its founding in 2001, almost 5,000 young artists from over 90 countries training in the leading music schools have applied to the competition.

For this year, 388 pianists from 38 different countries applied to compete; 24 were selected for the first round, and 10 were selected for the semifinal round. 

The six competition finalists are pianists Elias Ackerley, Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, Jakub Kuszlik, Anthony Ratinov, Gabriele Strata, and Derek Wang. 

On May 15–16, 2024, they will perform with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal — the official orchestra of the CMIM — and led by guest conductor Xian Zhang, who will also join the jury for the final deliberations. As an official digital partner of the CMIM, The Violin Channel has streamed the semifinals and will stream the upcoming finals, here.

The competition’s First Prize involves cash awards and performance opportunities amounting to over $140,000; the Second Prize is valued at $15,000; and Third Prize is endowed with $10,000.

Special prizes include the Audience Award and the Award for Best Canadian Artist, which are both valued at $5,000.

In the semifinal, Strata also won the Chamber Music Award, and Izik-Dzurko was awarded the best performance of a sonata, as well as the best performance award for the compulsory Canadian work. Additionally, the Bita Cattelan Philanthropic Engagement Award went to Élisabeth Pion, and the Junior Jury Prize was awarded to Jakub Kuszlik.

The 2024 CMIM jury comprises Zarin Mehta (chair), Dmitri Alexeev, Jan Jiracek von Arnim, Lydia Artymiw, Louise Bessette, Robert Levin, Hélène Mercier, Ronan O'Hora, and Minsoo Sohn.