Deutsche Telekom : Telekom Beethoven Competition presents 25 pianists, from 17 countries

• The renowned piano competition begins on December 1
• Performances will also be streamed live

The 2017 International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn gets underway on December 1, 2017. This year marks the seventh edition of the renowned piano competition, which was founded in 2005, and takes place in Bonn, Beethoven's birthplace. The 2017 competition will present 25 contestants, ranging in age from 18 to 32 and hailing from a total of 17 countries. Three of the contestants are female and 22 are male. The contestants have been selected, from a much larger group of applicants, by Professor Pavel Gililov, the president and artistic director of the competition, and chairman of the competition jury; Professor Andreas Frölich (Professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln); and Professor Henri Sigfridsson (Professor at the Folkwang University of the Arts, in Essen and first-prize winner in the first Telekom Beethoven Competition, held in 2005).

The competition is decidedly international in character, as is evidenced by the event's international and prestigious jury and its broadly international field of contestants - and by the fact that it will also be presented via a globally available live stream, on the website www.telekom-beethoven-competition and on Facebook-Live.

In the first two rounds of the competition, the online audience has the opportunity to vote for its favorite performers. The winner of that audience vote automatically advances to the next round, regardless of the jury's decision. In the semifinal round, the on-location audience gets to choose the winner of the 'Beethoven-Haus' prize. That prize comes with an invitation to present a piano recital in the chamber music hall of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, a 1,000-euro cash prize and a bronze bust of Beethoven sculpted by Naoum Aronson and sponsored by Dr. Gudula Neidert-Buech.

This year, for the first time, the online (live-stream) audience will also get to choose a favorite in the semifinal round (via online voting) - as the winner of the new Deutsche Telekom StreamOn Beethoven Award, which includes a cash prize of 1,000 euros, sponsored by Deutsche Telekom, and an invitation to give a piano recital in Deutsche Telekom's Berlin Representative Office.

Tickets for the Welcome Concert (18 euros) and the final round (21-40 euros) are available at all the usual ticket-sales outlets, as well as on the Internet, at http://www.bonnticket.de, and by phone at 0228-50 20 10. All ticket prices include a 10% advance booking fee. Admission to the first three rounds of the competition, including the semifinal round, is free of charge.

Further information is available at www.telekom-beethoven-competition.de