Jyväskylä Music Competitions

Keski-Suomen musiikin edistämissäätiö sr, or The Foundation for Music Promotion in Central Finland was established in 1951 in the city of Jyväskylä by private donors, who were committed to supporting young people in their musical pursuits. The stated purpose of the foundation was to advance music education in the region mainly by organizing music competitions and other opportunities for students to perform in front of a live audience.

Our bigger competitions take place in every three year in Jyväskylä. The orchestra in finale concerts is Jyväskylä Sinfonia and the juries are consisting of top experienced musicians and pedagogues.

The latest Juhani Heinonen Violin Competition dated from 28 February to 6 March 2025. The next Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Chamber Music Competition will be held from 24 February to 5 March 2026. The members of the jury will be Paavali Jumppanen (chair), Mindaugas Bačkus (Lithuania), Johan Fröst (Sweden), Marianna Shirinyan (Denmark) and Cecilia Zilliacus (Swden-Finland). The international category is open to ensembles from all countries. The competition is a member of WFIMC – World Federation of International Music Competitions.

The previous Ilmari Hannikainen Competition was held in the beginning of March 2023 in Jyväskylä. The Competition Committee had qualified twenty ensembles to compete in the international category. The jury consisted of Juhani Lagerspetz (chair, Finland), Andreas Brantelid (Sweden-Denmark), Johan Fröst (Sweden) Kaija Saarikettu (Finland) and Irina Zahharenkova (Estonia-Finland). The competition was supported by e.g. Rolando and Siv Pieraccini Foundation, Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland and city of Jyväskylä.

The prizes and winners in Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Chamber Music Competition 2023

The prizes and winners in Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Chamber Music Competition 2020

Jyväskylä, the capital of Central Finland, is a dynamic and modern university town in the heart of the beautiful lake district. It is the cradle of Finnish pedagogic know-how and has provided the foundation for the successful school system in the country. The seminary for teacher education was established already in 1860 and was from the beginning on the cutting edge of pedagogy. This strong tradition of producing highly competent teachers has put Finland repeatedly among the top countries in the PISA-rankings.

Music education follows the same exacting pedagogic standards. The country is covered by a network of institutions that offer courses from first grade to university. One of our goals is to act as a catalyst and utilize this network by combining existing resources in a creative way. For example, we are putting together a symphony orchestra by selecting students from all the institutes in the region. Another multilevel project is a multi-art production programmed for 2021 and 2022, where music, dance, composition, media etc. students from different schools have been working together.