A Message From IDPC's Jury Chairman

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Most pianists have trained their whole lives to reproduce written music in performance, obediently following the printed score and practicing long hours to avoid the slightest blemish. This approach has led to a dry and predictable concert culture, where technical precision overshadows imagination.

But what if there was another way? What if pianists improvised? What if they allowed for risk, ambiguity and flights of fantasy onstage?

Alfred D. Cortot was pianist who perfectly embodied this alternative approach. His middle initial—D—has become a symbol of the creative spirit for a new generation of musicians, who aim to redefine what it means to play music in the AI age.

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Cortot and the other "D Masters" from the first half of the 20th century were not merely pianists; rather, they were giants who lived as creatively as they played: Josef Hoffman was an inventor; Ignaz Paderewski a statesman; Cortot a conductor, chamber musician and an educator.

The mission of the D Masters International Piano Competition is to discover, foster and promote this spirit of creativity, individuality, and improvisation in piano playing. The unique diversity of the competition requirements—including chamber music and vocal accompaniment— allows contestents to fully express their individuality in different mediums. The next generation of D Masters is waiting to be discovered in Quanzhou.