63rd ARD International Music Competition begins on September 1rst

Durations: September 1 to 19, 2014

Record number of entrants

A record total of 519 musicians and ensembles from 50 countries and 5 continents entered for the 63rd ARD International Music Competition, which this time is tendered in the categories piano, cello, percussion and wind quintet. That is the highest number of entrants in the history of the competition. The preliminary jury chose 312 instrumentalists to take part in the competition in Munich.

Facts and Figures

The percussionists will begin the proceedings on September 1 at the College of Music in Munich; this fach was last selected seven years ago. The ARD Music Competition is the most important contest of its kind worldwide. The cellists follow on September 2 in Studio 1 of Bavarian Radio, followed on September 4 by the pianists and the wind quintets in the Carl Orff Hall of the Gasteig concert hall and at BR's Studio 2. At the beginning of September, 72 pianists, 70 cellists, 45 percussionists and 25 wind quintets will dominate the music scene in Munich and pass through three heats before the finale.

The international status of the competition is reflected in the origins of the participants from so many different countries. Leading the pack is South Korea, followed by Germany, Japan, Russia, France, Spain, the USA, China and Poland. Juries of international music experts are responsible for the judging.

Prize money and invitations to concerts

This year's prize money exceeds € 170,000, comprising the ARD's main prizes and the special prizes, donated by foundations and various institutions. Invitations to perform at concerts and festivals are absolutely essential for a young musician's burgeoning career. The ARD Music Competition therefore invites important personalities from the professional music world.

Funding by the regional ARD broadcasters

In addition to the prize money they received, previous prizewinners have repeatedly emphasized the invaluable benefit derived from reporting on radio, television and the internet, via video live stream, and from invitations to take part in concerts and recordings. Bavarian Radio, the broadcaster that annually organizes the ARD Music Competition, provides in its Symphony Orchestra one of the world's premium ensembles to support the candidates in the final rounds and at the prizewinners' concerts. Michel Tabachnik, Principal Conductor of the Brussels Philharmonic, will conduct the orchestra this year.

Prizewinners' Concerts

After the actual competition is over, concluding with the piano category on September 14, there follow the prizewinners' concerts on September 17, 18 and 19 in Munich's Prinzregententheater and the Herkulessaal of the city's "Residenz" palace. This is where the newly honoured prizewinners are given the opportunity to perform for the public. As is traditional, it is the Munich Chamber Orchestra that accompanies the young musicians at these concerts, as is the case in the semi-finals, when the ensemble plays with the pianists and cellists in the evaluation round for "performance of a concerto without conductor".

The Competition in the media

In addition to the daily reporting on Bavarian Radio, there are also various televised programmes. The Prizewinners' Concert on September 19 will be transmitted live on all of the ARD's associated regional arts programmes, including BR-KLASSIK, and it will be recorded by Bavarian Television and broadcast by many German third programmes at different times. Starting with the semi-finals, there will be a worldwide live stream of the competition. This year there will again be a special BR-KLASSIK prize awarded for the highest click rate for a finalist in the online voting. Regional print media as well as international music magazines will report regularly, and classical music online media will keep abreast of events. The ARD Music Competition also has a presence on both Facebook and Twitter.

Background

The ARD Music Competition was born 62 years ago in Munich, where it has its home to this day under the auspices of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation. It is acknowledged to be the largest classical music competition in the world, since it encompasses several categories each year and 20 in all. Munich has been the springboard for many an international career. The prizewinners include names like Jessye Norman, Thomas Quasthoff, Robert Holl, Anne Sofie von Otter, Maurice André, Sol Gabetta, The Tokyo String Quartet, Christoph Eschenbach, Mitsuko Uchida, Yuri Bashmet, Heinz Holliger, François Leleux, the Quatuor Ebène, Sebastian Manz, Julian Steckel, Alexej Gorlatch.

www.ard-musiikwettbewerb.de

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This release was published on openPR.