The third edition of the International Conducting Competition “Llíria City of Music” culminated in its grand finale on Friday
XXXX. This is the name of the winner of the third edition of the International Conducting Competition “Llíria City of Music” — a competition that establishes him as the most promising international conductor. This followed five days of competition in four phases, duringwhich the winner had to demonstrate his exceptionaltalent, musicality, and potential in the field of conducting.
The competition, organized by the Llíria City Council with the collaboration of the Spanish Association of Orchestra Conductors (AESDO), awarded second place to XXXX and third place to XXXX. Meanwhile, XXXX received the AESDO Special Award.
By holding the competition, the council “seeks to reinforce the role of Llíria as an international benchmark for music,” acknowledged the mayor, Paco Gorrea, “and, most of all, to reinforce and strengthen a competition that is already one of the best in the world in this discipline.”
As for the councillor for culture, Mª José Llopis, she wished to highlight “our city’s commitment to music and culture.” In fact, the orchestra — made up mostly ofmusicians from Llíria — “impressed all the contestantswith its unbeatable level of performance, which proves once again the quality of our musicians.”
The decision was in the hands of a prestigious jury chaired by Manuel Galduf, principal conductor of the Orquestra de València (1983-1997). He was joined by Ni Fan, renowned Chinese conductor; José Miguel Rodilla, professor at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Murcia and professor of orchestral and band conducting at the Academy DIESIS; Jan Milosz, artistic director and manager of the Witold Lutosławski Chamber Orchestra in Łomża and professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw; and Diego Náser, principal and artistic director of the Boca del Río and Veracruz Philharmonic Orchestra in Veracruz, Mexico, and professor of orchestral conducting at the Higher School of Music of Catalonia (ESMUC) in Barcelona. The jury’s secretary is Cristóbal Soler, artistic director of the CIDO and principal conductor of the Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Valencia.
Four phases and a great final concert
The contestants had to face four phases with a demanding repertoire composed of works by Stravinsky, Elgar and Mozart; and a final concert, conducting an orchestra of more than 40 performers mainly from Llíria. In this performance, the programme was the same for the three conductors, consisting of Estructura I (chamber orchestra version) by David Moliner, a work commissioned for the final of the CIDO; Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra (1st movement) by H. Tomasi with the participation of soloist José Vicente Faubel, a native of Llíria; and Coriolan Overture, Op. 62 by Beethoven.
The competition has awarded over 8,500 euros in prizemoney and, moreover, the winner may be invited to conduct a concert in the collaborating orchestras. These are the Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española, the Orquesta de Valencia, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga, the Orquesta de Extremadura, the OrquestasSinfónicas del Sistema de Venezuela, the OrquestasFilarmónica de Boca del Río – Veracruz, and the Witold Lutosławski Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra.
CV. JAEHYUCK CHOI
JAEHYUCK CHOI is a South Korean conductor renowned for his refined artistic sensibility and deep commitment to contemporary and classical repertoire.
As a 2023 Conducting Fellow at the Verbier Festival and a 2025 Jaap van Zweden Conducting Fellow with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, he has studied at The Juilliard School and the Barenboim-Said Akademie and trained under the tutelage of maestros such as Paavo Järvi and Péter Eötvös in Lucerne, Tonhalle Zürich, and IRCAM.
