Maazel-Vilar Conductors' Competition

April 18, 2002
SOUTH AMERICAN ROUND TO BE HELD APRIL 26-28 IN SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

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

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April 18, 2002

SOUTH AMERICAN ROUND TO BE HELD APRIL 26-28 IN SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

Ten candidates will rehearse the Orquestra Experimental de Repertório at the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo.

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 South American regional round. These highly talented musicians aged 21 to 35 will gather in São Paulo, Brazil, to take part in comprehensive auditions leading the Orquestra Experimental de Repertório. Maestro Lorin Maazel will rehearse and prepare the orchestra on April 25, 2002, and the ten participants will conduct the ensemble Friday through Sunday, April 26–28. The auditions on April 26, 27 & 28 will be held at the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, and will be free and open to the public. The Competition will be held on Friday evening, April 26, from 6:30pm-10:30pm (18:30-22:30) and on Saturday and Sunday mornings, April 27 & 28, from 9:00am-1:00pm (9:00-13:00).

Candidates for the South American 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 São Paulo, listed with ages and nationalities, are:

· Mateus Araujo (31), Brazil
· Rodrigo de Carvalho (28), Brazil
· Guglielmo Diliberto (33), Italy
· Gustavo Dudamel (21), Venezuela
· Cesar Iván Lara (34), Venezuela
· Nizan Leibovich (32), Israel
· Natalia Luis-Bassa (35), Venezuela
· Marcelo Ramos (29), Brazil
· Andres Tolcachir (31), Argentina
· Xian Zhang (28), China

The Competition is presenting the South American round in partnership with the Mozarteum Brasileiro, one of the most important cultural organizations in Brazil. Since its founding in 1981 by Sabine Lovatelli and Claude Sanguszko, the association has brought many of the world’s most prestigious performing artists and ensembles to Brazil, including, among many others, the Vienna, Berlin and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the Bolshoi, Kirov and New York City Ballets and numerous renowned soloists and conductors. The Mozarteum Brasileiro has also assumed a broader role in promoting classical music through a wide range of educational and outreach activities, from free outdoor concerts to scholarship programs for young artists.

The Orquestra Experimental de Repertório (OER) was founded in 1990 following a project initiated by its chief conductor, Maestro Jamil Maluf. Officially recognized in 1992, it is today part of the Theatro Municipal Department of the Secretaria Municipal de Cultura of the city of São Paulo. The aims of the OER include the training of the highest quality professional orchestral players; the integration into the traditional symphony orchestra of instruments that represent new technology, such as synthesizers, in order to stimulate musical creativity; and the performance of a diverse repertoire that captures the full range and artistry of great symphonic music.

Over the three days of auditions, the invited conductors will rehearse the OER 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 South American regional round, Maestro Maazel will be joined by Maestro Jamil Maluf, the chief conductor of the OER, and Maestro Yeruham Scharvosky, the artistic director and chief conductor of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro. Maestro Maluf, born in Piracicaba, Brazil, has been chief conductor of the Sinfônica Jovem Municipal de São Paulo and of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Paraná, of the Teatro Guaira in Curitiba. He has won many top musical prizes for his wide-ranging and innovative work as a symphonic, opera and ballet conductor. Maestro Scharvosky, a native of Buenos Aires, has conducted many leading orchestras in South America, Europe and Israel, including the Moscow Philharmonic, the Finnish National Opera Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Symphony and the Buenos Aires Philharmonic. From 1991-1995 he was chief conductor of the Ra’anana Symphonette in Israel.

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. Four regional rounds 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); Krakow, Poland, with the Sinfonietta Cracovia, in association with the Krakow 2000 Bureau (January 2002); and London, England at the Royal College of Music (February 2002). The last regional round is planned for 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.

LINKS
Theatro Municipal de São Paulo
Mozarteum Brasileiro