Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition 2017 with new artistic director and new patron
Press release from 06/23/2016
With immediate effect, Prof. Dr Sebastian Nordmann, artistic director of the Konzerthaus of the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, takes over the artistic director of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition. competition. The competition is under the patronage of Andris Nelsons, Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Sebastian Nordmann succeeds Dr Dieter Rexroth, who has given the competition
a new profile since 2012 by strengthening the proportion of new music and the sustainable
promotion of the prizewinners and
successfully positioned it in the German competition landscape.
Sebastian Nordmann on his new role: "It is with great pleasure that I take on the position of Artistic Director at
. It is important to me to support
young musicians on their way into international musical life
and to select the quintessence of the 24 German music academies at
this traditional competition."
Before Andris Nelsons, Kurt Masur was patron of the competition until his death in December last year
. With Andris Nelsons, the newly
appointed conductor of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig from February
2018, there is once again a strong connection to Felix Mendelssohn
Bartholdy in terms of content. Andris Nelsons received the Glashütte Original
MusikFestspielPreis at the
Dresden Music Festival in May 2016 for his commitment to teaching classical
music and promoting young talent.
The next Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition will take place from
18 to 22 January 2017 at the Berlin University of the Arts. It will be held in
the subjects of violin and piano trio. The jury will be chaired by
Carolin Widmann (violin) and Niklas Schmidt (piano trio).
Sebastian Nordmann, born in Kiel in 1971, worked for two years at the strategic
management consultancy The Boston Consulting Group in Berlin following his
doctorate at the Technical University of Berlin under Christian Martin Schmidt on
the subject of "The influence of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival on the
musical landscape of Schleswig-Holstein". From October 2002 to
December 2008, he was artistic director and managing director of the Mecklenburg-
Vorpommern Festival. From 2008 to 2013, he also held a professorship in
music management/career planning at the Rostock University of Music and Theatre
. He has been artistic director of the Konzerthaus Berlin and the
Konzerthausorchester Berlin since 2009.
Andris Nelsons, born in Riga in 1978, first trained as a trumpeter, then as a
conductor and was engaged by the Latvian State Opera. From 2009 to 2015, he was Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, like Simon Rattle before him. He has now extended his contract as Chief Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra after just one year until the 2021/22 season. In the 2015/16 season, Nelsons continued his
collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic,
Het Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Nelsons
is a regular guest at the Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera and the
Metropolitan Opera. In summer 2016, he returns to the Bayreuth Festival
and takes over the musical direction of Parsifal in a new production by
Uwe Eric Laufenberg. His recording of Shostakovich's 10th Symphony with the Boston Symphony Orchestra was honoured with the Grammy Award
in February 2016.
The Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition emerged from two
important competitions: the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition
organised by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the oldest German music competition, and
the university competition of the German music academies. It was given a new artistic profile when they were merged in 2013. 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. In addition to a cash prize, the first prize winners also receive a CD production as follow-up funding. In addition, the organisation of concerts is an important part of the support for the young prizewinners.