The Busoni Piano Competition was founded in 1949 by Cesare Nordio, the then director of the "Claudio Monteverdi" Music Conservatory in Bolzano, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Busoni's death. Ferruccio Dante Michelangelo Benvenuto Busoni (1866 - 1924) was a significant Italian pianist, composer, conductor, librettist, essayist and music teacher.

The goal was a piano competition at an international level. It is held in odd-numbered years between the end of August and the beginning of September - the next time in 2027 - and has brought the town of Bolzano and its music conservatory great renown. The selection process is very strict; in more than half of the editions to date, no first prize has been awarded.

Today, an international jury of experts evaluates the participating up-and-coming talents and selects the piano finalists, from whom the next Busoni prize winner is chosen. The solo semi-finals and finals take place at the Konzerthaus Bolzano: the final, the "Top 3 - Finalissima", takes place in late summer, while the participants are determined in the preceding late autumn as part of the "Glocal Piano Project". The winner is then presented as part of the Bolzano Festival Bozen. Tickets for the solo semi-finals and finals can be purchased online.

Yi-Fan Wu from China is the winner of the 65th International Busoni Piano Competition 2025 in Bolzano. In addition, the 20-year-old also secured the audience prize. The other prize winners are Sandro Nebieridze from Georgia (2nd prize) and Christos Fountos from Cyprus (3rd prize).