Maazel-Vilar Conductors' Competition

December 13, 2001
TEN YOUNG MUSICIANS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPEAN REGIONAL ROUND

December 12, 2001
UPDATE ON THE SELECTION OF FINALISTS

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December 13, 2001

TEN YOUNG MUSICIANS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPEAN REGIONAL ROUND

Candidates will gather in Krakow, Poland, for public auditions with the Sinfonietta Cracovia at Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Hall, January 17-19, 2002

The Maazel/Vilar Conductors’ Competition, the international program created to cultivate young conducting talent, is pleased to announce the ten conductors chosen to participate in its Central/Eastern European regional round. These highly talented musicians aged 20 to 33 will gather in Krakow, Poland, to take part in comprehensive auditions leading the Sinfonietta Cracovia. Lorin Maazel will rehearse and prepare the orchestra on January 16, 2002, and the ten participants will conduct the ensemble Thursday through Saturday, January 17-19. The auditions on January 17, 18 & 19 will be held at the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Hall in Krakow from 12:00-17:00, and will be free and open to the public.

Candidates for the Central European round were chosen from an overall field of 362 applicants, representing 43 countries. Each submitted audio/video examples of their podium work, detailed biographical information, letters of recommendation, and a personal essay. Maestro Maazel reviewed the applications in detail and invited those candidates whom he felt demonstrated the most potential for a major conducting career. The field in Krakow, listed with ages and nationalities, includes:

· Yaniv Dinur (20), Israel
· Folko Jungnitsch (31), Germany
· Taras Krysa (33), Russia
· Manfred Lehner (30), Germany
· Hsiao-Lin Liao (30), Taiwan
· Maria Makraki (31), Greece
· Alexander Mickelthwate (31), Germany
· Erik Nielsen (24), United States
· Barak Tal (26), Israel
· Maciej Tworek (33), Poland

The Competition is presenting this round in partnership with the Sinfonietta Cracovia, which ranks among the leading chamber orchestras not only in Poland but on the wider European musical landscape. The ensemble was formed in 1990 at the initiative of a group of young musicians associated with the Krakow Academy of Music. Largely due to the support of distinguished individuals in the arts world, most notably Elzbieta Penderecki and Maestro Krzysztof Penderecki, the Sinfonietta in 1994 came under the patronage of the President of the City of Krakow, and since that time has appeared as the Orchestra of the Capital Royal City of Krakow. Also collaborating with the Competition in organizing this event is the Krakow 2000 Bureau, established as an independent municipal institution of culture, whose purpose was to design, prepare, and realize the Krakow 2000 - European City of Culture Festival. After the closing of the program for the year 2000, the Bureau has continued its operation in an altogether new structure: it became a joint venture of the Municipality of Krakow and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Over the three days of auditions, the invited conductors will rehearse the Sinfonietta Cracovia in three different repertoire segments: Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements (first movement); two accompaniments—Ravel's Tzigane for Violin and Orchestra, and Donna Anna's Recitative "Don Ottavio, son morta" from Mozart's Don Giovanni; and an individually assigned piece from the standard symphonic repertoire. Off the podium, each candidate will be given a brief test of general musicianship, which includes score identification, two aural exams, and a memory test, to aid in the evaluation process.

Forming the jury for the Central/Eastern European regional round, Maestro Maazel will be joined by two of Poland’s most distinguished conductors, Jan Krenz and Antoni Wit. Both have had long associations with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, Maestro Krenz serving as its artistic director from 1953-1967 and Maestro Wit holding the same position for 17 years beginning in 1983. Maestro Krenz, who is also a celebrated composer and proponent of contemporary Polish music, has conducted many of Europe’s leading ensembles and maintained close relationships with the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sinfonia Varsovia in Warsaw. Maestro Wit has conducted widely throughout Europe and won international recognition for his extensive discography for Naxos, EMI and many other labels.

Launched in January 2001 by Lorin Maazel and arts philanthropist Alberto Vilar, the Maazel/Vilar Conductors' Competition aims to address a critical need largely unserved by other music competitions-the training of the future artistic leadership of the world's great symphony orchestras and opera houses. The first two regional rounds of the Competition were held in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2001, in association with the Toho Gakuen Orchestra and the Nippon Music Foundation and in Bloomington, Indiana, in December 2001, in association with the Indiana University School of Music. Following the Krakow regional round, the Competition will continue to audition conductors at three other sites worldwide: London, England, at the Royal College of Music (February 2002); São Paulo, Brazil, with the Orquestra Experimental de Repertório in association with the Mozarteum Brasileiro (April 2002); and Sydney, Australia, with the Sydney Sinfonia (August 2002). Finalists from each region will be invited to Carnegie Hall in New York for a week of rehearsals and concerts with the Orchestra of St. Luke's in September 2002. Any or all of the finalists may be awarded the Competition's prize, which includes an intensive conducting fellowship with Lorin Maazel and other distinguished artists over a two to three year period, a cash award of $45,000 and select professional engagements.