Every four years, a group of individuals dedicated to their art come together in competition from around the world. No, it's not the Olympics, but rather music competitions that have sprung up in the last 50 years. Now, however, when people think of these events, cities such as Moscow, Brussels, Berlin and Warsaw will be placed alongside Pasadena, a Los Angeles suburb that is known for its Rose Parade, if nothing else.

The First Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition was held in Pasadena over a span of two weeks, ending Saturday. Featuring pianists from 15 countries, the competition is by far the most significant in Los Angeles and is one of the most important in the United States. Aside from the occasional scandal, the competitions manage to produce some of the greatest careers in music.

"In terms of the level of commitment and time, the competitors are really Olympic athletes, no question. You cannot prepare that level of person every year. No way, it takes too much work," said Douglas Yoder, executive vice president of Master Classes International, the organization that put the competition together.

Indicative of the prestige of an event such as this, the awards ceremony gala was attended by Sharon Davis (the first lady of California), Bill Bogaard (Pasadena's mayor), Mark Swed (a leading critic of the Los Angeles Times), governmental dignitaries from Russia and Japan, and even a few celebrities such as Mira Sorvino and Michael York. Blinding lights blazed from the balcony as the event was being recorded for future DVD release under the new independent label Pipeline Music. Alexandre Rachmaninoff, composer/pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff's grandson, though not present, vocally supported the competition from the beginning and even donated the $30,000 grand prize.

In addition, the jury panel, who decides the winners, reads like a who's who of piano performers and educators. Many have played for American presidents, performed in Carnegie Hall, and won past competitions. Pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy's one-week stint on the competition jury panel, though short, provided prestige for the new event. In fact, Ashkenazy, a prolific recording artist as well, often faced lines of people waiting to get his signature on CDs and programs.

"I didn't even play," Ashkenazy joked.

The winners, who actually did play on Kawai's Shigeru grand piano, were gold medalist Evgueni Mikhailov of Russia and silver medalist Mizuka Kano of Japan. They performed Rachmaninoff pieces along with the imported Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra. It was a night dedicated to Rachmaninoff's music, which became somewhat revived after its use in the film "Shine." Rachmaninoff himself was a Russian émigré to Los Angeles (he died in Beverly Hills in 1943), making the competition's presence in Pasadena appropriate.

Like the Olympics, scandals often threaten the validity of such competitions. "The figure skating scandal, in comparison to what can happen at piano competitions, I give that a three or a four. There's all kinds of horsetrading going on. There's a history of this at piano competitions that makes this skating thing look really small," Yoder said.

The famous example is the 1980 Chopin competition, where Martha Argerich stormed off the jury panel when pianist Ivo Pogorelich failed to advance. A scandal seemed to be in the making on Friday when the winners were announced. Mikhailov knew Ashkenazy personally and had performed with him in Moscow.

"It's not important that I know Ashkenazy," Mikhailov said.

In addition, Kano made many audible mistakes, yet beat out audience favorite Ning An of the United States.

"There are a lot of competition judges who judge on the basis of mistakes made by the pianists. That's very easy to do. It's also not a high level of judging. If you have very good musicians who are themselves performers, they know that, when you're making real music in a way that reaches out and grabs people, it's very difficult to combine that with performances that are perfect," Yoder explains.

As Italian competitor Alessio Cioni said, "Pianists are not machines."

Cioni himself was stripped of his finalist standing when his performance was deemed unprofessional and unprepared. While being a favorite in the solo recital performances, he floundered in the concerto performances, which he says were his first time ever playing with an orchestra.

"There's not much rehearsal time so you have to be really prepared for any event. If the conductor decides to slow up a little bit you have to be ready. Cioni just didn't know the piece he played," said Earl Wild, a juror who has played for six consecutive American presidents and has taught at Juilliard and Eastman among other music schools.

Because of Rachmaninoff's Russian heritage and the fact that Russia has perhaps the greatest piano tradition in the world today, the competition serves not simply as a classical "Star Search," but also as an ambassadorial event for the new relationship between Russia and the United States.

"I am happy to say that we have a very positive experience producing this competition. This means that we can speak right now of much more involvement of the Russian side in its future," said a representative from Russia's Ministry of Culture via translator.

Indeed, while classical music ticket sales are dwindling, music competitions are becoming more necessary to create concert careers for new pianists, who, as part of their awards, receive recital invitations to places such as Carnegie Hall and Moscow's Tchaikovsky Conservatory. While some competitions have produced musicians such as Van Cliburn and Ashkenazy, some winners are merely forgotten. The world will have to wait and see if Mikhailov and Kano will flower.