WARSAW (AFP).- Poland's Chopin competition, which has launched the careers of renowned pianists, has been postponed until next year because of the coronavirus pandemic, organisers said Monday.

The autumn competition that draws contestants from around the world once every five years will take place at the Warsaw Philharmonic from October 2 to 23 in 2021, organisers said on the official webiste.

They added that the list of pianists already accepted for the preliminary round "will remain the same. All the tickets purchased for the sold-out event remain valid."

A total of 164 pianists from more than 30 countries are to compete in the preliminary round in Warsaw, with 80 to be selected to perform in the subsequent round.

Since it began in 1927, the competition named after the composer Frederic Chopin has opened doors for the winners to play in prestigious venues and has launched the careers of celebrated pianists like the Italian Maurizio Pollini and Argentina's Martha Argerich.

It is reserved for pianists between the ages of 16 and 30, and laureates have come from Asia, Europe, and North and South America.

The juried performances are open to the public and always sell out.

Born in 1810 in Zelazowa Wola, near the Polish capital, Chopin fled his homeland just before an 1830 uprising, and later lived in Vienna and Paris.


© Agence France-Presse