About the competition

Between the 6th and the 11th of March 2023, SAMIT Event Group, in collaboration with CMDI Group, will be presenting the inaugural edition of the Classic Accordions International Competition. 

Taking place in the UAE city of Dubai, this first edition of the competition shall be made up of three stringent rounds which have been specifically designed to test all facets of each candidate's musical skill set. The first two phases will consist of recital rounds, with each participant taking to the stage on their own to present their work in front of the competition’s jury board, while the third round will see Classic Accordions’s finalists performing alongside a full orchestra. 

Organised with the aim of identifying and supporting the best young accordionists from across the globe, this event is open to applicants of all nationalities, races and creeds, with the only criteria being that all applicants must be no older than 35 years of age at the date of the competition’s opening ceremony. 

Overseeing all three of the competition’s rounds will be a distinguished jury board made up of some of the most celebrated names in the contemporary music world, including Chairman of the Board Yuri Medianik (UAE), as well as Klaudiusz Baran (Poland), Xu Dawei (China), Kimmo Mattila (Finland) and Mirco Patarini (Italy). They will be bringing all their expertise and experience to bear in order to identify which candidates will proceed to the contest’s later rounds, as well as the eventual prizewinners, who will be walking away with a total prize fund of €35,000.

Throughout the competition, the musicians shall have the option to present music from a wide variety of historic and contemporary composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Dmitri Shostakovich, Alessandro Scarlatti, Domenico Scarlatti, Louis-Claude Daquin, François Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jean-François Dandrieu, Astor Piazzolla, Richard Galliano, and Composer-in-Residence Alexey Shor.