The history of international piano competitions in Belarus dates back to 1996. The first International competition of musicians-performers " Piano. Minsk-96" was held in the autumn of 1996 by the decision of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus and with the assistance of the special fund of the President of the Republic of Belarus for the support of talented youth. The competition was attended by 82 young pianists (from 16 to 30 years old) from 12 countries: Belarus, Georgia, China, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Estonia, Japan. The international jury consisted of well-known teachers and musical figures-J. R. R. Tolkien.Mariotti (Italy), K. Gerzhod (Poland), J. Banovets (USA), K. Koleva (France), A. Zandmanis (Latvia), V. Rakhlenko, 3. Kacharskaya and Yu.Gildyuk (Belarus). The jury was headed by V. Merzhanov (Russia) and I. Olovnikov (Belarus).

For 3 days (October 31 – November 2), the attention of the Minsk public – teachers, students, music lovers, as well as numerous guests who specially came from the cities of Belarus and neighboring countries – was focused on the competitive auditions. The concert hall of the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society was full during all three tours. Experts, listeners and participants themselves noted the high professional level of the contestants and the friendly creative atmosphere created by the organizers of the competition.

The prizes were distributed as follows:

• First Prize – Andrey Sikorsky (Russia);
• II Prize – Iosif Sergey (Belarus);
• III Prize – Tamara Sanikidze (Georgia).

The winners of the competition were Andrey Shabala (Ukraine), Sergey E. Smirnov and Vadim Gatsko (Belarus).

Four years later, 85 performers from 15 countries took part in the International Competition "Minsk–2000" (April 5 – April 19): Armenia, Belarus, Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Israel, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine, France, Estonia, Japan. The international jury consisted of D. Pollak (USA), A. Vardi (Israel), M. Lukaszczyk (Poland), M. Ovchinnikov (Russia), V. Kozlov (Ukraine), Y. Gildyuk, V. Rakhlenko, V. Shatsky, L. Shelomentseva (Belarus). The jury was headed by I. Olovnikov (Belarus).

The prizes were distributed as follows:

• I prize – Alexander Muzykantsy (Belarus);
• II Prize – Inna Soldatenko (Ukraine);
• III Prize – Zaruhi Hambartsumyan (Russia).

The winners of the competition were Tatiana Titova (Russia), Konstantin Krasnitsky and Sergey E. Smirnov (Belarus).

5 years later, in 2005 (2-17 December) hosted the international piano competition "Minsk–2005", for participation in which was filed 81 application from 17 countries – Armenia, Belarus, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Finland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan. The international jury, which was chaired by I. Olovnikov (Belarus), consisted of A. Zandmanis (Latvia), V. Rachkevich (Poland), Yang Li Chin (China), A. Sevidov (Russia), V. Kozlov (Ukraine), Yu.Gildyuk, V. Nehaenko, V. Shatsky, L. Shelomentseva (Belarus).

The first prizes and titles of laureates were awarded to Alexey Chernov (Russia) and Timur Shcherbakov (Belarus). Four Belarusian pianists – Konstantin Krasnitsky, Vasily Netuk, Vitaly Stakhievich and Vlada Shatskaya-received diplomas and titles of the competition's winners.

Five years later, the International Piano Competition "Minsk-2010" was held (November 25-December 9), where 87 applications were submitted from 10 countries: Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, and Japan. The international jury consisted of Zh. Aubakirova (Kazakhstan), I. Berkovich (Israel), A. Diev (Russia), A. Zandmanis (Latvia), V. Kozlov (Ukraine), P. Lassman (Estonia), A. Paleta-Bugai (Poland), Yu.Gildyuk, V. Nehaenko, S. Mikulik, V. Shatsky, L. Shelomentseva (Belarus). According to tradition, the jury was headed by I. Olovnikov (Belarus).

The prizes were distributed as follows:

• I prize not awarded;
• II Prize – Alexander Panfilov (Russia) and Alexander Samoilov (Ukraine);
• III Prize – Fatima Merdanova (Russia) and Vlada Shatskaya (Belarus).

The diplomas and titles of the winners of the competition were again awarded to the participants from Belarus – Yevgeny Galanov and Pavel Netuk.

And finally , in 2014, the International Piano Competition "Minsk–2014"was held, which was attended by 50 performers from 10 countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, China, Latvia, Morocco, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, France. The jury, chaired by I. Olovnikov (Belarus), consisted of A. Nersesyan (Armenia), S. Osokin (Latvia), M. Rubatskite (Lithuania), N. Trull, V. Shkarupa (Russia), Yu. Gildyuk, V. Dulov (Belarus).

The prizes were distributed as follows:

• I prize – Andrey Ivanov (Belarus);
• II Prize – Alexander Danilov (Belarus) and Roman Kosyakov (Russia);
• III Prize – Anna Grot (Russia).

Vitaly Starikov (Russia) and Anatoly Kostyuchenko (Ukraine) were awarded incentive awards and diplomas.

The 25-year history and the results of the international piano competitions in Minsk allowed us to speak about the serious success of the Belarusian piano school, whose achievements in recent years have been repeatedly confirmed at various international competitions around the world. The establishment of the international Piano Competition in the capital of the Republic of Belarus has included the city of Minsk in the musical geography of the world competition movement.