International Robert Schumann Contest for Pianists and Singers originated in 1956 on the hundredth anniversary of Schumann’s death.
A large, in those days still pan-German musical festival was held in the city of the composer’s birth, in Zwickau, to commemorate this event, and the reconstructed house of Schumann’s birth was officially opened as the home of the Schumann Museum and Archive. Simultaneously, in Berlin, young pianists and singers vied for the title of best interpreter of Schuman, the prize winners appeared later in Zwickau in the Schumann festival.
In 1960, in the year of the 150th anniversary of Robert Schumann’s birth, the second edition of International R. Schumann Contest in the categories of Voice and String Quartet was held in Berlin, followed by a further Schumann festival in Zwickau, in a context similar with the first edition.
It was only on the occasion of the third contest that this musical event »moved« to Zwickau once and for all. Having in the meantime become a member of the World Federation of Musical Competitions with its headquarters in Geneva, and boasting a widely respected name, it was in 1963 that the Schumann Contest was able to put down roots in the great composer’s Saxon home. Ever since this time, the categories for Piano and Voice have been constant fixtures.
