The international response in the first call for the new music competition created by the Llíria City Council has gone beyond expectations. After the closing of the deadline last Monday, May 10, a total of 188 applicants from 35 countries have confirmed their participation in a competition that will culminate in the month of July.
The International Orchestra Conducting Competition “Llíria City of Music”, organized by the Music Department of the Llíria City Council in collaboration with AESDO, the Spanish Association of Orchestra Directors, intends to discover and promote promising young orchestra conductors from all over the world.
With registration now closed, the initial expectations of the organization of the competition have exceeded due to the exceptional reception of applications throughout the two-week period. Likewise, the members of the jury confirm not only the high level of participation but also the optimal quality of the contestants, after many hours of study, examining all the audiovisual and curricular material presented for evaluation. In many cases, they are already budding professionals, at the beginning of promising artistic careers in their respective countries.
“We are very satisfied with the response to this contest. But not only in number and international representation, but also because of the quality of the candidates. Very exciting weeks await us, and it will be very hard to have to choose in the light of such a level,” acknowledges Cristóbal Soler, president of AESDO and artistic director of the Competition.
Germany, Venezuela (Maestro Abreu’s orchestra system continues to bear good results), Mexico, Russia, Korea and Spain, as host, are the countries that bring together the largest number of contestants. Furthermore, there is increasing participation of female conductors, around 18% of the total; a trend that will most certainly continue to grow in future editions.
Competition with great collaborations
“Llíria needed to create an international competition of such characteristics. Our bicentennial musical training tradition and the global potential of our bands deserved a competition of this level. In addition, thanks to membership in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, we have been able to further boost this initiative, collaborating closely with cities such as Metz, Seville, Bologna, Liverpool and Hannover, among others, while it has been reinforced with the collaboration of the most important orchestras in our country and other entities, which I want to thank for their participation in placing the event where it deserves,” says Music Councillor Pedro Vicente.
On May 18, the definitive list of the 25 candidates who will compete in Llíria will be published. From July 12 to 17 they will face each other in four eliminatory phases, interpreting pieces by Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven and Francisco Coll, whose work ‘Cantos’, for string orchestra, will be an absolute premiere, having expressly been made for this Edition by the young Valencian composer, one of the creators with the greatest international projection, and awarded as the best composer at the International Classic Music Awards in 2018.
