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Three hundred and eight young musicians from 56 countries from five continents entered the Zoltán Kodály International Music Competition, organised by the Kodály Philharmonia Debrecen and JM Hungary from 20th-28th August, where this year, the conductors competed against each other.
In the second edition of the Zoltán Kodály International Music Competition, the young conductors conducted not only orchestral pieces but also a number of oratorio pieces. One of the main reasons for this is that the 100th anniversary of the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra coincides with the centenary of the Psalmus Hungaricus, which is the occasion for the orchestra’s long-standing wish to organise an oratorio conducting competition in Debrecen.
The applicants, who included conductors from Venezuela, Morocco, Estonia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and New Zealand, took part in a video pre-selection before the three-round competition to see who would be invited to the live competition.
The jury decided that 38 competitors could start the competition, including six Hungarian participants.
A true legend, 92-year-old Jorma Panula, chaired the international jury of seven. The jury was composed of János Ács (Italy/Hungary), Peter Broadbent (United Kingdom), Remy Franck (Luxembourg), Zsolt Hamar (Hungary), Oksana Madarash (Ukraine), Imre Kollár (Hungary).
The jury has decided on the winners:
- 2nd prize (shared) – Alexander Sinan BINDER & Mateusz GWIZDALLA
- 3rd prize – Dániel ERDÉLYI
- 4th prize – Eric STAIGER
- 5th prize – Jiří HABART
The awards ceremony and gala concert took place on Monday evening in the Great Hall of the Kölcsey Centre, featuring Strauss’ Overture to The Gypsy Baron and Overture to The Bat, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Kyrie I, and Kodály’s Dances of Galanta and Psalmus Hungaricus. The prize-winners conducted the concert. The Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kodály Choir and the singer István Kovácsházi were among the performers.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
