Rules 2025

1. General Terms and Conditions

2. Entry conditions

3. The process of the Competition

4. General rules and other information

1. General Terms and Conditions

1. The competition is open to young candidates of all nationalities. They are divided into 2 disciplines:

Opera

1st age group – 16-21 years ( for the age younger than 16, a participant can be accepted by the special request to the Organizing Committee )

2nd age group – 22-35 years (inclusive at the time of the application)

Lied duo (voice and piano): 18-35 years (inclusive at the time of the application)
The performance of the duo will be evaluated as the solo performance of the vocalist and the quality of the ensemble. Pianist’s performance will not be evaluated separately.

2. The competition consists of 2 public rounds

3. The order in which participants will perform will be determined by random drawing. This order is kept through all rounds of the competition. All participants, however, should be ready to a change in the schedule and order of performances

4. Member of jury does not attribute points to his/her own current students. Also he/she must not vote for a candidate who is a relative of the jury member in question

5. Awards are per discipline and age group and they may be shared or not attributed at the discretion of the Jury and Organizing Committee :

1 prize — diploma and laureateship, special prize

2 prize — diploma and laureateship, special prize

3 prize — diploma and laureateship, special prize

6. Jury and the Organizing Committee may give special prizes for participants and accompanists:

– Special prize(s) from the opera agency Arien Arts & Music Management
– Role in the Opera project of Triomphe de l’Art, asbl
– The Best performance of a work by a Belgian composer
– Best accompanist of the competition
– Young hope Award (attributed by association Triomphe de l’Art, asbl)

7. The jury has the right:

a) to award not all prizes;

b) to share prizes (except Grand Prix) between candidates;

c) to award the diploma of “Laureate of international competition Triomphe de l’Art”;

8. The decision of the Jury is final and irrevocable

9. The results of the competition are announced in the morning of 2nd November 2025 in the MIM Brussels.

10. Pianists designated by the organizers (official pianists) of the competition are at the disposal of the participants for some additional fee. If a participant needs such a pianist, it is necessary to indicate so in the application form. Participants may, nonetheless, have a personal accompanist. If it’s the case, it should be indicated in the application form (as well as the accompanying instrument). The application fee for the participant who needs the official competition’s pianist can be found in the table here. Please note that the payment for the application fee should be done with 1 bank transfer. Separate or delayed bank transfer for pianist accompaniment only is not accepted.
The services of the official competition’s pianist include 30 minutes of rehearsal with the participant for the 1st and the 2nd rounds together as well as pianist’s accompaniment at the competition rounds and gala concert for the participant. The personal accompanists’ travel and accommodation expenses are NOT covered by the competition.
The schedule of rehearsals is established by the Organizing Committee of the competition.
Scores should be sent, along with the application form, to the following e-mail:

competition@triomphedelart.org

Scores written by hand will not be accepted. Scores quality in electronic format should be high. Otherwise, pianist does not guarantee the quality of his accompaniment.

Candidate has to send the scores for the official pianists (if candidate does not bring his own pianist for accompaniment) of the competition together with his/her application for the competition. If candidate sends the scores after the 1 October 2025, official pianists have a right to refuse to accompany the candidate or to ask for additional fees.

11. The participant has a right to choose the order in which he/she will play the different works in his/her program. He has to write this order in the application form as well as the duration of each composition in his/her program. After 1 October 2025 the candidate’s program and its order cannot be changed. Otherwise, The Organizing Committee reserves the right to disqualify the candidate.

12. By participating in the competition, the candidates and their accompanists grant to the Competition and association Triomphe de l’Art, asbl the right to record, to reproduce and to arrange for the reproduction of their performances in the competition and at the concerts in any existing or future medium, as well as the right to broadcast their performances by any televised or radio broadcast means, including the Internet, cable networks, terrestrial or other broadcasting, live or pre-recorded, in Belgium or abroad

13. All the participants qualified for the 2nd round and their accompanist are required to perform with no claim to any compensation at the final Gala concert of the competition as well as at the 2nd additional concert if it is confirmed by the Organizing Committee. At the Gala concert, participant must perform the works of the composers who lived before the year 1954 unless mandated otherwise by the Organizing Committee

14. Winner of the Grand Prix and the winners of the 1st prize of the previous editions of the contest are eligible to participate in the next contest only by applying to another age group or/and another discipline

15. In the “Opera” discipline the entire program of the participant must be performed live by heart. In the category “Lied duo” participants may perform with scores.

16. In case of non-fulfillment of the mentioned conditions, the musician will lose all his/her prizes

2. Entry Conditions

1. Application deadline: 1 October 2025

2. The candidate can apply Online on our website or by completing (in English, French or Dutch) and signing application forms available on the same page of our website. In this case the forms must be sent by e-mail to: competition@triomphedelart.org

In the application form the candidate MUST indicate:

First and Last name of the candidate

Date of birth and age group

Candidate’s School / University (or other educational institution if applicable) and contacts of this institution, candidate’s degree obtained from this institution or the future degree and candidate’s actual year of study

Home address, postal index, telephone number, e-mail.

Program to be performed at each round of the competition including the composers’ names, names of the compositions, duration of compositions and order of compositions

First and last names of the accompanist (if candidate comes with his/her own accompanist) his/her home address, telephone number and e-mail.

The Direction of the competition reserves the right to use all the information and photos in order to provide them to the media. All rights (copyrights) to the recording during the competition belong to the association “Triomphe de l’Art, asbl”

Candidates admitted to the competition will receive an official invitation.

3. One or more official documents (originals or certified copies) establishing the candidate’s nationality and date of birth

4. A short CV in English, French or Dutch (that can be published) including details of education, names of teachers, principal concerts, recitals, and awards

5. Candidate must send to the competition one photo of good quality (minimum 300 dpi). It should be taken not earlier than 6 months before the application. He/she must also send another color passport photo in format 3×4

6. Copies of diplomas of winners, publications in the press, concert reviews, etc… if applicable.

7. Application fee

Discipline: Opera
  Fee without competition’s pianist Fee with competition’s pianist
1st age group 90 € 145 €
1st age group
student of Brussels music academy or conservatory
80 € 135 €
2nd age group 110 € 165 €
2nd age group
student of Brussels music academy or conservatory
100 € 155 €
Discipline: Lied duo
  Fee for each member of the chamber music group
Duo musician 70 €
Duo musician
student of Brussels music academy or conservatory
60 €

Application fee must be paid via a bank transfer (banking commissions to be paid by the candidate) to the following bank account by 1 October 2025. Please note that the payment for the application fee should be done with 1 bank transfer. Separate or delayed bank transfer for pianist accompaniment only is not accepted.

Student of Brussels music academy or conservatory must submit an official signed certificate from the educational institution confirming that he/she is a student of the educational institution for the current academic year.

Attention to non European Candidates: taxes must be run by the applicants, never by the competition, so pay attention while making the transfer not to let the taxes on the competition side. We must receive the exact amount of the participation fee. So for the countries which are not the part of SEPA zone please add €12.10. SEPA zone consists of the 28 EU member states together with the four members of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland)

IBAN: BE27 0018 5876 0173
BIC: GEBABEBB

Account holder: Triomphe de l’Art, asbl

PLEASE, DO NOT FORGET TO SEND US BY E-MAIL A BANK DOCUMENT CONFIRMING THE PAYMENT.

PLEASE WRITE YOUR SURNAME AND A COUNTRY IN THE COMMUNICATION OF YOUR BANK TRANSFER, THAT WE CAN IDENTIFY YOUR TRANSACTION

CONFIRMATION OF THE ACCEPTANCE WILL BE SENT TO THE CANDIDATE BY EMAIL SOON AFTER HIS COMPLETE APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED BUT NOT LATER THAN 1 OCTOBER 2025

THE PAID APPLICATION FEE IS NOT REFUNDABLE OR TRANSFERABLE TO THE NEXT COMPETITION AT NO CONDITION.

8. The Organizing Committee is not responsible for the loss of documents and materials submitted by the candidate for participation in the competition. The entrance fee as well as submitted materials will under no condition be returned to candidate.

9. All materials sent to the Organizing Committee should be available in one of the official languages of the competition: English, French or Dutch. The Organizing Committee may accept materials in a non-official language of the competition, but in this case it must be accompanied by a clear translation in one of the official languages of the competition(English, French or Dutch).

10. In the case candidates and persons accompanying them need a visa in order to come at the competition, they must apply and pay for visa or any other travel documents on their own. If necessary, the Organizing Committee may assist candidates in obtaining visa. The Organizing Committee, at the request of the candidate, can send an official invitation for the contest. At the same time, the competition and The Organizing Committee are not responsible for eventual refusal of visa or any other legal issues preventing the candidate to arrive at the competition. Participants are also responsible for paying any transportation fees for their instruments.

3. The process of the Competition

1. Each candidate admitted to take part in the public rounds agrees to participate in those rounds according to the time and the date defined by the Organizing Committee, unless prevented from doing so by illness or accident certified by a legal attestation from a doctor, police or other official. In this case, the time and the date of his or her performance may be modified at the discretion of the Organizing Committee.

2. In all rounds the candidate performs with accompaniment or a cappella.

3. If the participant performs with the official accompanist of the competition, the participant must bring exactly the same version scores of all the performed works.

4. Participants will cover their own travel expenses, as well as food and accommodation

5. At the each round and at the gala concert, participant must be dressed in the concert suit and shoes.

6. The organizing committee can provide participants with recommendations for hotels or Bed & Breakfasts. Booking and payment is made by the participants themselves. The organizing committee, without any guarantees, can assist in providing accommodation

7. Travel expenses and stay during the competition of parents, personal accompanists, teachers or any other accompanying persons will be the responsibility of the participant. According to preliminary applications, the Organizing Committee may assist in arranging accommodation of these persons, as well as send them an invitation.

8. If, after being eliminated from the contest, the participant and his or her delegation want to stay until the end of the competition, they must pay their own accommodation during this period.

9. The Organizing Committee will provide the contestants with more information about public transportation and possible accommodations places in Brussels

10. Performances of participants will be evaluated by an international jury by secret ballot

11. The jury’s decisions at all stages are final and not subject to discussion, review, or appeal

12. The jury has the right to interrupt the candidate’s performance. The jury and the Organizing Committee have the right to cut the program of the candidates by removing one or several pieces from the program or by removing some part of the performed composition

13. The day before the gala concert the Director of Competition and the Jury have the right to pick a piece for the candidate from his or her repertoire to perform at the gala concert.

14. Director of Competition and the Jury will select candidates who will perform at the final gala concert. Selected candidates must play at the gala concert. If selected candidates do not perform the selected pieces at the gala concert, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to put the person out of the competition, to withdraw the title of winner, diploma or any other special prize, title or any other reward won or earned at the competition

4. General rules and other information

1. The final decision for all questions that arise in the process of organizing and conducting the contest are up to the Organizing Committee.

2. In case of violation of the contest rules, the Organizing Committee and the Jury have the right to remove the participant from the contest

3. Participants and jury members must abstain from making any statements in the media during the contest unless mandated by the Organizing Committee

4. Association “Triomphe de l’Art, asbl” has the exclusive rights (applicable to all countries) to broadcast audio /video recording, editing, production and distribution of materials in all rounds of the competition, as well as all the events of the contest, including the opening and closing ceremony of the contest. Association “Triomphe de l’Art, asbl” has the exclusive right to use the recorded audio / video content for free and without obtaining the permission of the participants, accompanists and jury members who took part in concerts during the competition

5. No recording audio or video devices are allowed at all the rounds and gala concert (including interviews) of the competition, unless officially mandated by the Organizing Committee. Otherwise, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to confiscate any recording done during the competition or to take legal action against the person making the recording.

6. The association “Triomphe de l’Art, asbl” has the right to transfer the rights specified in point 5 of this Regulation to third parties

7. The official languages of the competition are English, French and Dutch. The texts in English are legally binding. If anyone wants to make an official translation of these terms or of other materials of the competition, this person must notify the association “Triomphe de l’Art, asbl” or The Organizing Committee about their actions and get the agreement. Without such agreement The Organizing Committee and the association “Triomphe de l’Art, asbl” are not responsible for possible problems caused by inaccuracies in the translation of the above materials

8. Medical insurance and insurance against loss and damage to the instrument or luggage in case of an accident, fire or theft while traveling is made at the personal expense of participants. If the participant’s insurance is not in order, the contest is not responsible and does not cover any medical expenses.

9. Participants of the competition should not give any public performances during the competition, except for performances scheduled by Organizing Committee. This condition is valid until the end of the gala concert.

10. Force Majeure. The contest may be canceled or postponed due to epidemics, fires, earthquakes, strikes, war, delays of flights or other transports, and other force majeure.

11. The candidate must not play his own compositions.

12. The candidate must submit the name of the composer, the full name of the composition, tonality, opus number, the duration and the publication of each composition

13. The candidate may decide on the repeats in the composition, provided that the total duration of the work will not exceed the allowed duration.

14. Changes to the submitted program are not allowed after 1 October 2025, unless exceptionally sanctioned by The Organizing Committee. Otherwise, The Organizing Committee reserves the right to disqualify the candidate.

15. After the contest The Organizing Committee may organize a concert tour for the winners, where they are required to participate in mutual agreement between winners and The Organizing Committee

16. If candidate misses his/her scheduled performance at the round of the competition, it is at the discretion of the Organizing Committee to reschedule (or not) candidate’s performance at the round. If the Organizing Committee cannot find the possibility to reschedule the performance, the candidate is automatically eliminated from the competition. Candidates must be present in the venue of the round and the gala concert at least 1 hour before their scheduled performance.

17. The Organizing Committee has a right to remove a discipline or an age group from the competition due to the small number of participants in this discipline or age group. The candidates of the removed discipline/age group will be immediately informed about such decision. Application fee paid by the candidates already applied to this category or age group will be reimbursed by the association “Triomphe de l’Art, asbl”.

18. Participation in the competition of musicians, members of jury, accompanists and others means that they agree with all the above conditions. In case of violation of conditions of the competition, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to put the person out of the competition, to withdraw the title of winner, diploma or any other special prize, title or any other reward won or earned at the competition

19. The entry to the rounds of the competition is free for the public. However, the registration by email competition@triomphedelart.org is strongly recommended. If a person comes to the rounds without the registration and there is no place left in the concert hall, the Organizing Committee will ask this person to leave the concert hall.

20. The entry to the gala concert is free for all the participants of the competition only, but not for the public including family members and friends of the participants. All the public needs to buy the entry ticket for the gala concert.

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