Creative teaching
The 17th CARL BECHSTEIN National Competition for Practical Piano Playing in Schools in Weimar
Prospective music teachers are once again demonstrating their astonishingly versatile skills on the piano and with their voices at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar. The 17th CARL BECHSTEIN National Competition for Practical Piano Playing in Schools will take place from May 7 to 10, 2026, in the Saal Am Palais hall of the Weimar Music university.
A jury will determine whose skills on the concert grand piano are most outstanding in free improvisation, song playing, and score and sight-reading in three public rounds.
The opening concert of the competition will take place on Thursday, May 7, at 8:00 p.m. in the Saal Am Palais. The pianist and entertainer Florian Wagner, known for the successful music comedy duo “Ass-Dur,” will perform there. “Florian Wagner was the overall winner of the Schupra Competition in 2016,” says the competition's organizational director, Prof. Cornelius Mack. “He is now firmly established in the German piano cabaret scene and impresses audiences with his witty and fresh program, his musical breadth, and his high level of virtuosity.”
Tickets for the opening concert will be available from April at the Weimar Tourist Information Office and at the box office.
Students enrolled in music education programs can register to participate in the competition until March 31, 2026. Registration is available on the university's website.
Participants will be evaluated by a seven-member jury, which this year is chaired by Prof. Kai Koch (PH Karlsruhe, representing the Federal Association of Music Education). Prizes will be awarded in the categories of song playing, score and sight-reading, and improvisation. The overall winner will also receive prize money of €1,500.
The prize winners will conclude the competition on Sunday, May 10, at 10:00 a.m. with a concert in the Saal Am Palais. Admission to the competition rounds and the concert by the prize winners is free.
The “Schupra” competition has been running for more than 30 years. For the second time, it is being held with the generous support of the CARL BECHSTEIN FOUNDATION. The purpose of the new partner's foundation is to promote piano music and piano playing on a broad level. It supports projects and institutions that introduce children and young people to the piano at an early age and motivate them to continue playing.
The organizer of the competition is the Weimar Music University in cooperation with the Federal Association of Music Education (BMU).
For more information and registration: www.hfm-weimar.de/schupra
[20 February 2026]