Glenn Gould won top prize at the first Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto. He was only a child. I don't think he ever competed in any of the major piano competitions. Correct me if I am wrong. I know he was opposed to competition. The latest Glenn Gould magazine has an good article about his feelings.
He was a successful musician without this agony. I know young pianists think winning a major competition will jump start their careers. I wonder - do they really need this aggravation? There has to be a better way. Is there such a thing as a fair contest? Can music be judged? Should it be judged like this?
Lim Dong-hyek refused to accept his third prize and the money which went with it at the Queen Elizabeth Music Competition in Brussels. I have to wonder why people enter these contests.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2003/06/11/20030611007
2.asp
Miffed Korean pianist refuses prize
A young Korean pianist competing at a prestigious international music
competition cried foul yesterday and gave up his third-place award in
protest.
Lim Dong-hyek, 18, rejected the jury decision at the Queen Elisabeth
Music Competition in Brussels because he felt his performances
throughout the month-long competition were demonstrably better than
those given by the second-place winner, Shen Wen-Yu, 16, from
China. Severin von Eckardstein, 25, from Germany, won first prize.