15 – 29 JUNE 2021
with the State Opera Stara Zagora in Stara Zagora / Bulgaria
The winners of the 8th Edition of thr Blue Danube International Opera Conducting Competition 2021 are:
1st Prize Winner – Michael ENGELBRECHT / Holland
2nd Prize Winner – Julia CRUZ CARCELLER / Spain
3rd Prize Winner – Gaddiel DOMBROWNER / Israel
Jury’s Special Prize – Karine LOCATELLI / France
LINK TO A DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT OUR COMPETITION:
https://vimeo.com/237761332
Password: baguette
Welcoming message from the Jury President, Maestro Igor Dohovic.
REPERTOIRE:
Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Carmen by Georges Bizet (with Guiraud orchestral recitatives)
Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo
Duke Bluebeard’s Castle by Bela Bartok
All operas are sung in their original languages.
BARTOK SCORES TO BE USED (the 2007/2008 corrected edition prepared by Peter Bartok and Peter Hennings in Hungarian and English by Bartok Records & Publications)
In Europe, please contact:
UE33247 full score (eng./hung.) €340,80 – format: 250 x 340 mm
UE33085 study score (eng./hung.) €77,95 – format: A4
UE33086 piano reduction (eng./hung.) €46,75 – format: Quart
NB … the study score above is large enough to use to conduct
For North or South America, Australia/New Zealand & Asia, please contact
bartok@atlantic.net
Prizes are guest conducting engagements with opera houses and symphony orchestras from around Europe and elsewhere. Moreover, a number of managers and concert agents will be present to see and hear the final rounds which have in the past led to engagements for those conductors who advance, sometimes even those who have not been finalists.
The goal of our Competition is to produce a rigorous and fair Competition adjudicated by an international jury free of prejudices of age, training, nationality, gender, etc.
HOW TO APPLY:
1. Send the BDM Application Form and your CV via e-mail or standard post.
2. Provide recent examples of your conducting (files, links, etc) to the address under \’contact\’ on this web site. These may be instrumental, choral or operatic conducting. Conductors who have participated in our previous masterclasses or competitions DO NOT need to send examples.
3. Pay the application fee of €50,00 via bank wire transfer (bank account details are below) or with credit card. Please inquire about credit card payments.
Bank name: BAWAG P.S.K.
Bank Address: Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna
Name on account: Blue Danube Musikimpresario GmbH
IBAN: AT22 1400 0020 1000 6026
BIC: BAWAATWW
Reason for payment: Competition application and/or deposit fee (please send EUR only).
Conductors will be notified if they are accepted immediately after we receive everything requested in nos. 1, 2 & 3 above. Upon acceptance, conductors secure a competition place by sending a deposit of €325,00. The balance fee of €620,00 is payable no later than the conductor’s first day at the Competition. Thus, the total for the Opera Conducting Competition is €995,00 – €50,00 application fee (non-refundable); €325,00 deposit (refundable before 15 February 2020); and €620,00 balance fee.
The Competition is limited to 65 participants. Qualified conductors who apply and are accepted, will receive the Competition slots. We urge conductors to apply as soon as possible. Conductors may not compete if they are currently, or have ever been, general manager, chief conductor, artistic director, associate conductor or Erste Kapellmeister of a professional opera company. There is no minimum or maximum age limit for this Competition.
The orchestra, chorus and soloists of the State Opera Stara Zagora and guest soloists will be used for all rounds of the Conducting Competition. 26 conductors will advance to Round II; and 8 to Round III. First, second and third-prize winners from our previous opera conducting competitions are NOT eligible to compete.
PRIZE ENGAGEMENTS FROM THE INSTITUTIONS BELOW:
National Opera Theater Belgrade, Serbia
Kolozsvari Magyar Opera in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Romanian National Opera Timisoara
State Opera Kosice, Slovakia
Bulgarian State Opera Stara Zagora (two engagements)
Engagement in Austria or Beijing through Musik und Kunst der Privatuniversitaet der Staat Wien
Finzi Academy -Teatro Il Maggiore in Verbania, Italy
PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRAS
Sofia Philharmonic, Bulgaria
Kodaly Philharmonic – Debrecen, Hungary
The winners will also conduct a gala performance on the evening of 29 June at the conclusion of the Competition.
Winning conductors will receive the standard fees and conditions offered by the participating opera theaters and orchestras for their guest conductors. Engagements will take place during the 2021-2022 or 2022-2023 seasons. Titles to be conducted will be by agreement between the artistic directors of the respective opera theaters or orchestras and the prize-winning conductors. Winners are urged to accept the date offered by the institution or risk losing the engagement.
Past prizes have included guest conducting engagements in the following opera theaters: Slovak National Opera Theater, Bratislava; National Opera Theater Brno, Czech Republic; Opera Nationala Bucuresti, Romania; Opera Maghiara Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Volkstheater Rostock, Germany.
INTERNATIONAL JURY MEMBERS, OPERA DIRECTORS & MANAGERS: the jury will be comprised of a cross-section of conductors and opera professionals from a variety of countries and continents. Opera house managers, directors and concert and opera agents will be at the Competition during Rounds II and III to see and hear (and sometimes engage) conductors whose work they like.
JURY MEMBERS IN 2021
Maestro Igor DOHOVIC / Jury President, Slovakia
Maestro Larry NEWLAND, USA
Maestro Niels MUUS, Austria/Denmark
Maestro Iurie FLOREA, Romania
VIP Guests for Finale of Round II
Maestra Elena CASELLA, Italy
Maestro Stefan VLADAR, Germany
Maestro Daniel SOMOGYI-TOTH, Hungary
VIDEO/AUDIO RECORDING (optional)
100 EUR for all conducting in Round I
120 EUR for all conducting in Round I and II
150 EUR for Rounds I, II and III, including the Gala concert
Payable in cash at the Competition directly to the camera person. These videos are made in HD using several camera angles and an external microphone – one camera with a frontal view of the conductor from within the pit; the other on the stage. The videos are ideal for sending to concert agents, managers, directors, competitions, etc., as they do not show you in a competition situation, rather only that you are rehearsing well-known repertoire with a professional opera company. There are no views of jury members, Competition staff, other conductors, spectators, etc. Graphics can be added per your request with your name, repertoire with Act and scene, etc.
STATE OPERA STARA ZAGORA: http://en.operasz.bg/
Conductors have a total of 30 minutes in Round I with the State Opera Stara Zagora’s full forces — orchestra, choir, soloists — 15 minutes in the morning in a Sitzprobe situation (soloists and choir seated on stage with the conductor and orchestra in the pit) with Don Giovanni; and 15 minutes in the evening in a Generalprobe (dress rehearsal) situation with Carmen with some sets and soloists and choir moving per the staging and accompanied recitatives.
The jury will be evaluating how effectively a conductor rehearses his/her assigned segment of the opera during the morning rehearsal. In contrast, the requirement of the evening rehearsal will be to see how well a conductor maintains the flow and continuity of his/her assigned segment. Conductors receive their assigned segments on the morning of their conducting in Round I (segments are drawn out of a hat). The entire opera is performed from beginning to end during both morning and evening rehearsals; in this way the orchestra, choir & soloists do not have to repeat the same segment or segments over and over.
DAY-BY-DAY SCHEDULE
Round I, up to 52 conductors, 13 conductors each day, 30′ for each conductor
| 15 June / Tuesday |
10.00 – 14.00 (Sitzprobe/Italiana, Don Giovanni), 15′ each conductor
18.00 – 22.00 (Generalprobe, Carmen), 15′ each conductor
|
| 16 June / Wednesday |
10.00 – 14.00 (Sitzprobe, Don Giovanni), 15′ each conductor
18.00 – 22.00 (Generalprobe, Carmen), 15′ each conductor
|
| 17 June / Thursday |
10.00 – 14.00 (Sitzprobe, Don Giovanni), 15′ each conductor
18.00 – 22.00 (Generalprobe, Carmen), 15′ each conductor
|
| 18 June / Friday |
DAY OFF |
| 19 June / Saturday |
10.00 – 14.00 (Sitzprobe, Don Giovanni), 15′ each conductor
18.00 – 22.00 (Generalprobe, Carmen), 15′ each conductor
ANNOUNCEMENT OF ROUND II CONDUCTORS
|
Round II, 18 conductors, 9 each day, 60′ for each conductor
| 20 June / Sunday |
DAY OFF |
| 21 June / Monday |
DAY OFF |
| 22 June / Tuesday |
10.00 – 14.00 orchestra rehearsal Pagliacci & Bluebeard (15′).Group A / 9 conductors
18.00 – 22.00 choir rehearsal Pagliacci & Carmen (15′).Group A / 9 conductors
|
| 23 June / Wednesday |
10.00 – 14.00 orchestra rehearsal Pagliacci & Bluebeard (15′).Group B / 9 conductors
18.00 – 22.00 choir rehearsal Pagliacci & Carmen (15′).Group B / 9 conductors
|
| 24 June / Thursday |
10.00 – 14.00 Sitzprobe Pagliacci (15′).Group A / 9 conductors
18.00 – 22.00 Generalprobe Pagliacci (15′) Group A / 9 conductors
|
| 25 June / Friday |
10.00 – 14.00 Sitzprobe Pagliacci (15′), Group B / 9 conductors
18.00 – 22.00 Generalprobe Pagliacci (15′), Group B / 9 conductors
ANNOUNCEMENT OF ROUND III CONDUCTORS
|
Round III, 8 conductors, 90′ each conductor
| 26 June / Saturday |
10.00 – 14.00 Sitzprobe Bluebeard, 6 conductors 30′ each
|
| 27 June / Sunday |
DAY OFF |
| 28 June / Monday |
10.00 – 13.40 General Bluebeard, 3 conductors, 60′ each
18.00 – 21.40 General Bluebeard, 3 conductors, 60′ each
23.15 (ca) 3 or 4 WINNERS ANNOUNCED
|
| 29 June / Tuesday |
10.00 – 13.00 General rehearsal for Gala Concert (Prize Winners)
19.00–Gala Performance & Award Ceremony
Gala Performance will consist of arias and other music from Carmen, Don Giovanni and Pagliacci (conducted by the three or four winners)
|
*All rehearsals will take place at State Opera Stara Zagora unless otherwise noted.
CANCELLATION POLICY. The signed application form is binding. All cancellations must be submitted in writing (email).
The deposit will be refunded if the accepted conductor cancels for any valid reason — such as health issues, impossibility to get a visa, or other similar reasons prior to 15 February 2021. The reason must be substantiated with documentation.
Once a refund is approved, please allow four to six months.
Blue Danube Musikimpresario reserves the right to shorten or postpone the Competition dates or cancel the competition due to insufficient enrolment, force majeure, or any other circumstance or event for which Blue Danube Musikimpresario cannot be held responsible. Jury members, repertoire and prizes are subject to change.
