The 28th edition of the competition is scheduled to take place from October 2026 to February 2027. The repertoire requirements are now available here.
The principal changes since the last edition are as follows:
・Professional Category is scheduled to take place this year. The top prizewinner may be awarded prize money and/or the ‘NIFC Award’ as a special award.
・The eligibility criteria for the Chopinist I Category have been updated. Participants must be aged 12 or over as of 1 April 2026.
・In the final round of the video auditions for the Elementary School, Junior High School, and Senior High School Categories, as in the previous edition, you may select the repertoire from the works of J.S. Bach; however, there are now more pieces that are not available for selection than in the previous edition.
There are other changes as well, so please check the ‘repertoire requirements’ page mentioned above for further details.