International Tchaikovsky Competition

The International Tchaikovsky Competition is one of the most prestigious classical music competitions in the world. Named after Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, it takes place in Moscow every four years since 1958. In 2002, the most recent year, 627 musicians applied from 54 countries, of whom 272 were accepted: 65 pianists, 52 violinists, 63 cellists and 92 vocalists.

Top prize winners

Winners of the top prize awarded in the given year and category (first prize, unless otherwise noted).

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Piano

• 1958: Van Cliburn
• 1962: Vladimir Ashkenazy and John Ogdon shared first prize.
• 1966: Grigory Sokolov
• 1970: Vladimir Krainev and John Lill shared first prize.
• 1974: Andrei Gavrilov
• 1978: Mikhail Pletnev
• 1982: No first prize awarded. Peter Donohoe and Vladimir Ovchinnikov shared second prize.
• 1986: Barry Douglas
• 1990: Boris Berezovsky
• 1994: No first prize awarded. Nikolai Lugansky won second prize.
• 1998: Denis Matsuev
• 2002: Ayako Uehara

Violin

• 1958: Valery Klimov
• 1962: Boris Gutnikov
• 1966: Viktor Tretyakov
• 1970: Gidon Kremer
• 1974: No first prize awarded. Eugene Fodor, Ruben Agaranyan and Rusudan Gvasaliya shared second prize.
• 1978: Elmar Oliveira and Ilya Grubert shared first prize.
• 1982: Viktoria Mullova and Sergei Stadler shared first prize.
• 1986: Raphaël Oleg and Ilya Kaler shared first prize.
• 1990: Akiko Suwanai
• 1994: No first prize awarded. Anastasiya Chebotareva and Jennifer Koh shared second prize.
• 1998: Nikolay Sachenko
• 2002: No first prize awarded. Tamaki Kawakubo and Chen Xi shared second prize.

Cello

• 1962: Natalia Shakhovskaya
• 1966: Karine Georgyan
• 1970: David Geringas
• 1974: Boris Pergamenshchikov
• 1978: Nathaniel Rosen
• 1982: Antonio Meneses
• 1986: Mario Brunello
• 1990: Gustav Rivinius
• 1994: No first, second and third prize awarded. Eileen Moon and Georgi Gorjunov shared the fourth prize.
• 1998: Denis Shapovalov
• 2002: No first prize awarded. Johannes Moser won second prize.

Vocal, male

• 1966: Vladimir Atlantov
• 1970: Yevgeny Nesterenko
• 1974: Ivan Ponomarenko
• 1978: No first prize awarded. Valentin Pivovarov and Nikita Storozhev shared the second prize.
• 1982: Paata Burchchuladze
• 1986: Grigory Gritsyuk
• 1990: Hans Choi
• 1994: Yuan Cheng-ye
• 1998: Besik Gabitashvili
• 2002: Mikhail Kazakov

Vocal, female

• 1966: Jane Marsh
• 1970: Yelena Obraztsova
• 1974: No first prize awarded. Lyudmila Sergienko, Sylvia Sass and Stefka Evstatieva shared the second prize.
• 1978: Lyudmila Shemchuk
• 1982: Lidiya Zabilyasta
• 1986: Natalia Erasova
• 1990: Deborah Voigt
• 1994: Marina Lapina. Hibra Gerzmawa won the Grand Prize.
• 1998: Mieko Sato
• 2002: Aitalina Afanasieva-Adamova