217 young musicians have been admitted at the 58th ARD International Music Competition

From August 31 to September 18, 2009, the ARD International Music Competition, one of the most renowned music competitions in the world, will take place in Munich. The categories announced for this year’s Munich competition are voice, violin, double bass and harp.

All in all, there were 406 applications from 44 countries on five continents. 135 singers alone were among them, closely followed by the violinists. There were 94 applications from double bass players and 52 from harpists. In the course of the anonymous selection with a panel listening to recordings, this number melted down to about half – a total of 217 musicians.

The ARD has provided 112,500 Euros in prize money for this year’s competition. In addition there will be special prizes and grants with a value of 45,500 Euros.

This year, as well, each competitor will not only be expected to present a wide repertoire ranging from the 18th century to the present day, but also a work especially written for the competition: “A Singing Sky” for voice and piano by John Woolrich, “Gesine” for harp solo by Toshio Hosokawa, “Summer’s Prélude and Winter’s Fugue” for violin solo by Poul Ruders and finally “Atlas Textures” for double bass solo by Nicolaus Richter de Vroe.

For the first time in the history of the competition, besides the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the Münchener Kammerorchester, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester will also be taking part, accompanying the singers from the semi-finals until the prize winners’ concert. For the semi-finals of the harpists, prize winners from the 2004 competition year have been invited to accompany the competitors: besides the Quatuor Ébène, which became famous as a result of its competition victory, these will also include flutist Magali Mosnier and clarinetist Olivier Patey.

2009 Prize Winners’ Concert

As the concluding event, the selected musicians will appear in three concerts with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under the direction of John Fiore, the Münchener Kammerorchester and finally the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the direction of Lawrence Renes.

All the events will be broadcast live on Bayern 4 Klassik. Bavarian Television will telecast the September 18 orchestral concert on October 3 at 11:30 A.M. Other ARD radio stations will transmit the concerts either live or shortly thereafter.

The ARD International Music Competition first took place in 1952 and is one of the most renowned competitions world-wide. For many meanwhile world famous artists, the award in Munich represented the springboard to an international career: Jessye Norman, Francisco Araiza, Natalia Gutman, Christoph Eschenbach, Mitsuko Uchida, Thomas Quasthoff, Yuri Bashmet, Christian Tetzlaff, Heinz Holliger and Maurice André, to name but a few. Prize winners from more recent years include, inter alia, Sol Gabetta, Measha Brueggergosman and the Quatuor Ébène.

Further information: www.ard-musikwettbewerb.de

Ruth Wischmann - Media Relations / openpr.com