Maazel-Vilar Conductors' Competition

January 22, 2002
TEN PARTICIPANTS INVITED TO WESTERN EUROPEAN ROUND AT LONDON'S ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC

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

December 12, 2001
UPDATE ON THE SELECTION OF FINALISTS

Enter your email address and click submit to receive updates on the competition.

January 22, 2002

TEN PARTICIPANTS INVITED TO WESTERN EUROPEAN ROUND AT LONDON'S ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC

Candidates will rehearse the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra at the RCM Concert Hall, February 9-11, 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 Western European regional round. These highly talented musicians aged 24 to 35 will gather in London, England, to take part in comprehensive auditions leading the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra. Lorin Maazel will rehearse and prepare the orchestra on February 8, 2002, and the ten participants will conduct the ensemble Saturday through Monday, February 9–11, 2002. The auditions on February 9, 10 & 11 will be held at the Royal College of Music Concert Hall from 12:00–5:00pm, and will be free and open to the public.

Candidates for the Western 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 participants in London, listed with ages and nationalities, are:

· Joana Carneiro (25), Portugal
· Jacques Cohen (32), United Kingdom
· Graziella Contratto (35), Switzerland
· Andrei Danilov (24), Russia
· Hans Laureyn (32), Belgium
· Claire Levacher (34), France
· Ludovic Morlot (28), France
· Alfonso Scarano (33), Italy*
· Carlo Tenan (32), Italy
· Anthony Weeden (27), United Kingdom
[*replacing Guglielmo Diliberto, who withdrew from the London round for medical reasons]

The Competition is presenting this round in partnership with the Royal College of Music, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary in 2002. The College, situated in the heart of London’s cultural rich South Kensington borough, enjoys a worldwide reputation as a conservatory where performers, conductors, and composers are trained to the highest international standards. The RCM Symphony Orchestra plays a central part in the musical education and professional training offered by the College. Players are selected by audition, and preparation includes sectional rehearsals taken by many of the leading players in London’s major symphony orchestras. Over the past two years, the orchestra has worked with many distinguished conductors, including Daniele Gatti, Sir Roger Norrington, Vassily Sinaisky, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Sir Colin Davis, Martyn Brabbins, and most recently Andrew Litton (for Mahler’s Symphony No. 7) and Bernard Haitink (for Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8).

Over the three days of auditions, the invited conductors will rehearse RCM Symphony Orchestra 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.

On the jury for the Western European regional round, Maestro Maazel will be joined by two distinguished British conductors, James Judd and Neil Thomson. Mr. Judd is currently Music Director of the New Zealand Symphony and has just completed a 14-year tenure as Music Director of the Florida Philharmonic, presiding over periods of exceptional artistic growth with both ensembles. He is also a sought-after guest conductor worldwide. In the U.K., he has led productions at the English National Opera and the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, and conducted such ensemble as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Hallé Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Thomson, a major prizewinner in the Leeds Conducting Competition and the Donatella Flick Competition, has been on the faculty of the Royal College of Music since 1992. In 1998 he became Professor in charge of Postgraduate Conducting, the youngest ever holder of that prestigious position. Esteemed for his abilities as an orchestral trainer, he is also Conductor in Residence at the Malmö Academy of Music in Sweden and frequent guest conductor, both in London and throughout Europe.

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. Three regional round have already been completed, in Tokyo, Japan, with the Toho Gakuen Orchestra, in association with Nippon Music Foundation (October 2001); Bloomington, Indiana, at the Indiana University School of Music (December 2001); and Krakow, Poland, with the Sinfonietta Cracovia, in association with the Krakow 2000 Bureau (January 2002). Two additional rounds are planned for 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 the six regions 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.