Debrecen will host the international Kodály competition again this year
The second Zoltán Kodály International Music Competition will be held in Debrecen from August 20 to 28, for which conductors are invited to apply. The focus of the competition is Zoltán Kodály’s masterpiece, Psalmus Hungaricus, composed a hundred years ago this year.
In an unusual way for this year’s competition, they conduct not only orchestral pieces, but also many oratorio and opera excerpts. You can enter the competition with a total prize of 40,000 euros until February 28.
The event is organized by the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra, which is also celebrating its centenary, the world’s largest youth music organization, Jeunesses Musicales, and Papageno. Just like last year, the University of Debrecen will be an important cooperating partner for the Kodály competition, which presents interested young musicians from all over the world.
The competition will be organized for the first time in varying categories for string players (violin, viola and cello players) in 2022. The application ended with exceptionally high international interest: two hundred young musicians from 43 countries on five continents applied, and according to the jury’s decision, the 18-year-old Spanish cellist, Carlos Vidal, won the first prize.
– The double jubilee of the Kodály Philharmonics and Psalmus is an excellent opportunity to put Debrecen back on the map of international music competitions with a special conductor’s competition focusing on operas and oratorios. The director’s Kodály competition, which was accompanied by huge interest, showed that even the country’s second largest city can provide the standard that attracts musicians from all corners of the world, said Dániel Somogyi-Tóth, chief music officer of the city of Debrecen.
Conductors of any nationality who were born between August 20, 1988 and August 20, 2002 can participate in the conductor competition. After the pre-selection of the videos, the contestants compete in three rounds as a partner of the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kodály Choir in Debrecen. Conductors have 15 minutes in the first round and 30 minutes in the second round to perform the program determined by the jury. The jury advances a maximum of twelve contestants to the second round, and then six contestants to the third, where each of the finalists conducts the hundred-year-old Psalmus Hungaricus.
Application, detailed regulations and repertoire list HERE is located.
MTI