2026 / 2027
Entries are open. Judged from a single video recording, in your own age group and on your own instrument.
- Entries open
- August 12, 2026 at 6:02 PM EDT
- Entries close
- December 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST
- Video deadline
- January 9, 2027 at 2:02 PM EST
- Entry fee
- USD 110.00
- Time limit
- Under 6 minutes
Prizes
- Gold Prize — First Place
- USD 1,000
- Gold Prize — Second Place
- USD 300
- Gold Prize — Third Place
- USD 200
- Silver Prize
- Bronze Prize
- Honorable Mention
Cash prizes are paid in USD. Every prize is awarded within your own age group and on your own instrument.
The World Harmonies Competition invites young performers worldwide to submit a video recording showing their technical skill, artistic expression and interpretative depth. Entrants are judged within their own age group and instrument, and multiple winners are selected in every category.
The Gold Prize carries a cash award and a formal invitation to perform at the Winners' Recital in Seattle. Winners are featured on this site and in World Harmonies' promotional media.
The competition is highly selective, with a limited number of top prizes. Every category is assessed by a panel of professional adjudicators, including university professors and experienced performers.
Requirements
These apply to every season. The full rules and policy add how entries are made and the committee’s liability.
Who may enter
- Open to music students of all ages and nationalities who are not performance majors. Performance majors and professional ensemble musicians may not enter.
- Employees, committee members and adjudicators of the competition, and their immediate families, are not eligible.
- Entrants under 18 are registered by a parent or guardian, who consents on their behalf.
- Multiple winners are selected in every age group and instrument. Entries are judged only against others in the same group.
Repertoire
- Repertoire may be selected from any musical period, and must be published by a recognised publisher.
- Sonatas, concertos and solo pieces are all eligible. Jazz, improvisation and modern electronic music are not permitted.
- Play the work as published. Simplified or abridged student editions are not accepted.
- A single movement of a larger work is accepted, and is usually what fits the time limit. Each competition states its own limit on its page; a recording that runs over may be disqualified.
- Where the work calls for piano or other accompaniment, the recording must include it. The accompanist's playing is not counted toward the score.
- Memorisation is encouraged for piano and optional for strings and winds.
Your recording
- Unedited, single-take recordings only. Cuts and compiled footage are not accepted.
- The video need not be professionally produced, but it must clearly show the performer's playing.
- Put the performer's full name and the exact title of the piece in the video description.
- Submissions that break these rules are disqualified.
Judging and results
- Judging is based solely on the submitted video.
- Adjudicators' decisions are final and binding, and the organizing committee reserves final interpretation of all rules.
- Entrants may not request feedback, contest a ranking, or contact an adjudicator directly.
- Results are published on this site. Nobody is told their score, their rank among non-winners, or an adjudicator's comments.
Before you enter
The short version of what you are agreeing to. The full text is linked at the end, and the entry form asks you to accept it.
- Who may enter
- Music students of any age and nationality, except performance majors and professional ensemble musicians. An entrant under 18 is entered by a parent or guardian, who agrees on their behalf.
- One entry each
- One entry per person per competition, on one instrument.
- Your recording
- A single unedited take, running under 6 minutes. It stays on your own YouTube account — we store the link and never hold a copy, and you keep every right in the performance.
- Repertoire
- A published work, played as published. A single movement of a larger work is accepted. No jazz, improvisation or electronic music.
- Judging
- Decided from the video alone. The panel’s decision is final: we do not give feedback, disclose scores, or put you in touch with an adjudicator.
- The fee
- Not refundable. Once your entry is paid for the fee is not returned, including if you withdraw. If we call off the competition before judging, we refund in full.
- If you win
- Your name appears on the winners page only if you choose to be listed — it is not a condition of entering. For an entrant under 18 the default is a first name and last initial.
- A recital invitation
- Attending is your choice. Travel, accommodation and an accompanist are your own arrangement and your own expense.
Full text: rules and policy, terms of entry and privacy policy.
Questions about this season go to info@theworldharmonies.org.