Festive concerts by the greatest young talents
Press release from 01/06/2015
The winners of the 2015 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition will be presented to the public in three festive concerts at the University of the Arts in mid-January
From 14 to 16 January, the best students at German music academies in the fields of viola, trumpet, clarinet and vocal ensemble will compete in the competition for prize money totalling 60,000 euros. These will then be awarded at the prizewinners' concerts
of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition. Further funding from this traditional classical music competition organised by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the Rectors' Conference of German Music Universities includes scholarships, follow-up performances and CD productions.
The participants in the competition come from all over the world; quite a few have already been engaged by renowned orchestras and honoured with top marks in other competitions. What they have in common is that they are currently studying at a German music academy and have not yet reached the age of 30 by the end of the competition. The members of the
vocal ensembles may not be older than 32 during this period. CVs and portraits of all participants in 2015 as well as the jury members can be found on the competition website www.fmb-hochschulwettbewerb.de.
The winners will be announced at the festive orchestral concert on 16 January 2015 at 8 pm in the Joseph Joachim Concert Hall of the UdK Berlin. Under the direction of Scottish conductor Garry Walker, the symphony orchestra of the Orchesterzentrum | NRW, a unique Europe-wide
inter-university training centre for future orchestral musicians, will perform. The programme includes Beethoven's First Symphony and Kodály's Dances from Galánta.
In addition to the best vocal ensembles, the second and third prizewinners in the viola, trumpet and clarinet categories will also perform in the prizewinners' concert for the vocal ensemble category on 17 January at 5 pm in the Joseph Joachim Concert Hall at the UdK Berlin.
In the final concert of the competition on 18 January at 7 pm in the concert hall of the UdK in Hardenbergstraße, the prizewinners of the viola, trumpet and clarinet will be heard as soloists and accompanied by the symphony orchestra of the Orchesterzentrum | NRW with representative works for their instruments. These include the world premieres of compositions commissioned for the competition by David Robert Coleman for viola, Birke J. Bertelsmeier for trumpet and Márton Illés for clarinet. The final concert will be broadcast via live video stream: www.fmbhw.de/livestream. In addition to the concert, viewers of the "digital concert" can experience protagonists of the competition in conversation in the supporting programme of the livestream at
.
The competition is open to the public free of charge and, like the concerts, will take place at Berlin University of the Arts. The
competition entries will be judged by internationally renowned musicians under the chairmanship of Prof Barbara Westphal (viola), Prof Reinhold Friedrich (trumpet), Prof Reiner Wehle (clarinet) and Prof Matthias Beckert (vocal ensemble).
The Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition is the result of two important competitions: the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the oldest German classical music competition, and the University Competition of German Music Universities. When they were merged in 2013, the competition was given a new artistic profile. Since then, the competition has been under the artistic direction of Dr Dieter Rexroth and under the patronage of Kurt Masur. In addition to the organisers' prizes, the competition also awards the "Prize of the Federal President", which has existed in the form of a scholarship since 1989. The "Friends of Young Musicians Germany" also award a sponsorship prize.
The press release on the 2015 prizewinners, which will be available online from 17 January, will be sent out on the Monday after the prizewinners' concerts on 19 January. Detailed information on approx. 90 pages of the competition catalogue (from 14 January 2015, also available on site) and press tickets can be requested from
Claudia Assmann
Tel. 030 3185 2456
presse(at)fmb-hochschulwettbewerb(dot)de
www.fmb-hochschulwettbewerb.de
The dates at a glance:
14 to 16 January 2015, from 10.00 a.m.
Public auditions
Viola auditions: Kammersaal der UdK Berlin
Trumpet auditions: Konzertsaal der UdK Berlin
Clarinet auditions: Kleiner Vortragssaal der UdK Berlin
Admission free
14 and 16 January 2015, both from 10.30 a.m.
Public auditions
Vocal ensemble auditions
Hall 103 of the UdK Berlin
Admission free
16 January 2015, 8.00 pm
Festive orchestral concert
with announcement of the prizewinners
The symphony orchestra of the Orchesterzentrum|NRW will perform under the direction of Garry Walker
.
Programme:
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major, op. 21
Zoltán Kodály: Dances from Galánta.
Joseph Joachim Concert Hall of the UdK Berlin, Bundesallee 1-12
Admission: 6 euros, concessions 4 euros
17 January 2015, 5.00 pm
Prizewinners' concert vocal ensemble
Chamber concert of all prizewinners
in the vocal ensemble category as well as the second and possibly third
Prizewinners in the viola, trumpet and
clarinet categories
Joseph Joachim Concert Hall of the UdK Berlin, Bundesallee 1-12
Admission: 6 euros, reduced 4 euros
18 January 2015, 7.00 pm
Prizewinners' Concert Viola, Trumpet and Clarinet
With the Symphony Orchestra of the Orchesterzentrum | NRW,
Conductor: Garry Walker.
Programme:
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: War March of the Priests
from "Athalia", op. 74
György Ligeti: Concert Românesc
Paul Hindemith: Der Schwanendreher, concert
after old folk songs for viola and small orchestra
Joseph Haydn: Concerto for trumpet and orchestra
in E flat major, Hob. VIIe:1
Carl Maria von Weber: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra
No. 1 in F minor, op. 73 J 114
David Robert Coleman: "Zwiegespräch II" (viola)
Birke J. Bertelsmeier: "unstet" and "zu-neigend" (trumpet)
Márton Illés "Három akvarell klarinétra" (Three Watercolours for
clarinet).
Concert hall of the UdK Berlin, Hardenbergstraße/corner of Fasanenstraße
Admission: 9,- Euro, reduced 5,- Euro
Ticket telephone: (030) 31 85 23 74
Tickets are available from 6 January 2015
at the box office of the UdK concert hall,
Opening hours: Tuesdays-Fridays from 3-6 pm
or at: www.reservix.de.
With the kind support of:
- Lotto Stiftung Berlin
- Freunde Junger Musiker Berlin
- Freunde Junger Musiker Deutschland
- betont
- Orchesterzentrum | NRW
- Elsa Wera Arnold Stiftung
- Breitkopf
- Young Euro Classic
- Kasseler Musiktage
- Hotel am Steinplatz
- Kulturradio vom RBB
- Deutschlandradio Kultur
- Reservix