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The prestigious Tchaikovsky international music competition will take place next year in Moscow, a year later than planned to avoid clashing with the football World Cup, organisers said Tuesday.
The competition usually takes place every four years, like the World Cup.
"It was a torture for the jury, who listened to musicians by day and followed the matches at night, but also an obstacle for sponsors who believed that the (football) championship eclipsed all other public events," said Sergei Dorensky, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory and a regular member of the jury.
The some two million euros (2.5 million dollars) granted by the Russian State for the competition was not enough and sponsors were becoming difficult to find, said Oleg Skorodumuov, an official from the Russian culture ministry.
"The Tchaikovsky Competition is the Olympic Games of music," said Dorensky, pointing out that the event that has revealed numerous talented pianists also includes violinists, cellists and singers.
The competition brought reknown to pianists Van Clyburn, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mikhail Pletnev, Grigory Sokolov and Peter Donohoe.
The 13th Tchaikovsky Competition is due to take place from June 12 to 30, 2007 in Moscow.
The competition's new Internet site -- www.xiiitc.ru -- will for the first time broadcast the event.
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AFP 151843 GMT 08 06
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