Carl Nielsen International Competition

For ten days in March 2019, the Carl Nielsen International Competition – for violin, clarinet and flute – will be held concurrently for the first time in the composer’s hometown of Odense, Denmark. The Odense Symphony Orchestra invites young instrumentalists under the age of 30 in each instrumental category to apply. Applications open on 1 May and close on 15 October 2018.

Representing the 2019 competition as Artistic Advisors are three of the world’s leading musicians in their fields – Nikolaj Znaider, Emmanuel Pahud and Martin Fröst – who will actively participate in the selection process.

As President of the Carl Nielsen Competitions Nikolaj Znaider commented “I am delighted that we are able to hold all three competitions concurrently in 2019 and cannot wait to welcome all the talented young musicians to Odense together with my fellow jury members. I would like to thank Martin Fröst and Emmanuel Pahud for joining me as Artistic Advisors – their help in selecting the applicants will be crucial in making sure that the very best young instrumentalists are invited to participate.”

“We will launch the 2019 Competitions with three concerts presented by the Carl Nielsen Academy Orchestra comprising young talented instrumentalists from across Denmark. The aim of the project is to inspire more children and young people to play an instrument as a tool to self-expression and communication, and to strengthen the musical foundation of future musical life in Danish orchestras.  I look forward to taking the stage for one of these concerts and am particularly glad that the winners of the 2016 Carl Nielsen Violin Competition – Jiyoon Lee and Liya Petrova – will be returning to Denmark to perform at the other two concerts.”

The people of Carl Nielsen’s hometown, together with the Odense Symphony Orchestra look forward to celebrating the power and legacy of Carl Nielsen’s music, presenting unique opportunities for the world’s most talented young instrumentalists to launch their careers.

RULES AND VOTING PROCEDURE

Each competition takes place in three rounds and a finale. In the 1st round, 24 candidates will participate. 12 candidates will be selected for the 2nd round, and 6 candidates will continue to the 3rd round. Exclusive to the violin competition, all 6 candidates in the 3rd round are included in the nomination for the Odense Symphony Orchestra Prize. For the flute and clarinet competitions, the Orchestra Prize will be awarded among the finalists. 2nd round candidates are nominated for the Prize for Best Danish Interpretation, and the Children’s Jury prize will be awarded among the finalists.

The Jury votes after having heard all candidates. If a member of the jury has not heard all candidates in a round, the juror cannot vote in the round. Each juror signs his or hers voting-paper, when delivered back to the moderator. The moderator collects all votes after each round, and secures that the paper is properly signed by the juror. The moderator together with a neutral assistant counts the votes and announces the result to the jury. The result will be followed by a round table discussion, with the Jury Chairman’s comments last.

The 1st round will be decided by a consultative ballot. Each member of the Jury will have a maximum of 12 votes and no candidate may be given more than one vote by any member of the Jury. The candidates with more than 50% of the votes will pass to the second round, if there is consensus about it. Based on the consultative ballot the members of the jury will discuss the remaining candidates. If no consensus can be reached here, the procedure of first consultative ballot and then a discussion of its outcome will be repeated until consensus is reached.

The same rules apply for the voting in the 2nd round (each juror has a maximum of 6 votes) and 3rd round (each juror has a maximum of 3 votes).

After the 2nd round, the jury will also decide which candidate should be awarded the prize for Best Danish Interpretation.

The 3rd round voting will decide which candidates will continue to the finale.

After the finale the finalists will be ranked. The deliberations will begin with a consultative ballot. The rank will follow simple majority, i.e. the candidate with most votes will be no. 1, etc. The result of the ballot will form the basis of the subsequent motivation and discussion (round the table). If no consensus can be reached, the procedure of the first consultative ballot and then a discussion of its outcome will be repeated until consensus is reached.

In case of equality between two candidates there will be made a ballot in order to find out if the 1st prize should be split between two candidates. In case there will be no 2nd prize the money from the first and second prize will be equally divided between the two winners. If there is no majority to split the 1st prize, the Chairman will have the final say between the two candidates. This procedure applies also for the 2nd and 3rd prize.

In case of parity of votes between all 3 candidates, each juror shall vote for the best two candidates. Then there is a new round of voting, following the rules of parity of votes.

In order not to give one or more prizes the jury shall be unanimous.

After each of the first three rounds the chairman will announce the candidates to continue to the next round in the order they have performed and without mentioning the number of votes they have got.

The Jury’s decision is final and cannot be appealed.

NB: The voting procedure was implemented for the Carl Nielsen International Competition 2016. It is subject to change for the 2019 competition.

CONDITIONS FOR APPLYING TO THE CARL NIELSEN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 2019

The contestants shall meet the following conditions:

a) All competitions – flute, clarinet and violin – are open for all nationalities under the age of 30 on the first day of the competition. Flutists must be born on or after 21 March 1989. Clarinetists must be born on or after 21 March 1989. Violinists must be born on or after 21 March 1989.

b) The application must be completed and submitted online by 15 October 2018.

c) There is an application fee of DKK 750 to be paid by credit card. The applicant will be asked to submit their name and email after which they will be immediately redirected to the payment page.

d) The applicant will be asked to fill in an online application, which will require from them the following:

• A portrait photo
• A copy of his/her passport
• Upload of video recordings of the applicant performing requested pieces as announced on the competition‘s official website
• Maximum of 2000 characters biography
• Maximum of 20 lines CV; include highlights and orchestral performances as soloist
• Selection of which pieces he/she will be playing in all rounds and finals as announced on the competition’s website

e) Applicants will be informed in January 2019, as to whether they have been accepted as contestants in the Carl Nielsen International Competition.

f) Contestants must report to the Carl Nielsen International Competition before 15 January 2019, whether they wish to accept the invitation to the competition.

g) In extraordinary circumstances (force majeure), the General Manager of the competition may permit late arrivals to participate in the competition, if they report personally, no later than one day after the first round of the competition has begun.

Application online

REPERTOIRE

REPERTOIRE VIOLIN COMPETITION

REPERTOIRE FLUTE COMPETITION

Pre-selection; To be recorded as video and uploaded before applications close 15 October 2018

• Mozart, Amadeus Wolfgang: Flute Concerto in G, KV 313 – 1st movement until measure 146 and 2nd movement until measure 37, both with cadenzas; with piano accompaniment
  
• Andersen, Joachim: 24 Etudes for Flute, Op. 15 – No. 3. in G major
• Nielsen, Carl: Flute Concerto, FS 119, 1^st movement – Cadenza, bar measure 146; without accompaniment

1st Round (24 players), with piano accompaniment
Put together a program based on the choices below. Maximum performance time 30 minutes

• Thomas Larcher: New piece commissioned for the competition for flute and piano, to be announced later. Approx. 5 min.
• from memory;
  • Sancan, Pierre: Sonatine
  • or Dutilleux, Henri: Sonatine
  • or Gaubert, Philippe: Ballade
• Bach, Johann Sebastian: Play one sonata from the Organ Sonatas (for trio), arranged for flute and piano by W. and G. Kirchner-Bärenreiter Verlag. In consideration of the maximum performance time, feel free to omit repeats in the Bach sonatas. Choose between:
  • BWV 525
  • or BWV 526
  • or BWV 529
  • or BWV 530

2nd Round (12 players), with piano accompaniment
Put together a program based on the choices below. Maximum performance time 30 minutes

• Choose between the following works – and please note, you may reduce the length of a work by omitting repeats:
  • Lowell Lieberman: Sonata for Flute and Piano Op. 23
  • or Carl Reinecke: Sonata “Undine” Op. 167
  • or Joachim Andersen: Concertstück Op. 3 E-major
  • or Charles-Marie Widor: Suite Op. 34
  • or Franz Schubert: Introduction and variations D. 802. Repeat the sections in the A part and no repeats in the B part.
  • or Sigfrid Karg-Elert: Sinfonische Kanzone op. 114

• Be creative! Create your personal collage by PLAYING AROUND NIELSEN. Create and perform a 10-15 minutes collage for flute alone, and include the following points:
  1. Your collage must consist of flute solo pieces from 1700 to 2018 in free musical dialogue and exchange with excerpts of music by Carl Nielsen – i.e. Nielsen’s solo flute piece “The Children are Playing” or excerpts of other Nielsen compositions (i.e. solos, phrases, cadenzas from the concerto, from the quintet, themes from symphonies, etc).
  2. Feel free to include solo pieces from the entire flute repertoire but keep an emphasis on flute music from the late 20th and 21st century – e.g. Berio / Takemitsu / Ferneyhough / Pintscher. Creative new arrangements with excerpts of compositions are possible, but also entire works may be played.
  3. The goal is to show a variety of sounds, colors and expressions of the flute instrument.
  4. You will be asked to provide the music of your PLAYING AROUND NIELSEN for the jury prior to the competition.

Example for better understanding: Be as creative as possible by watching the time-proportions of your collage: Have at least 51% of contemporary music, about 10-20% of Nielsen’s music and the rest of any other style.

3rd Round (6 players), with chamber accompaniment, performed without conductor

• Choose between the following:
  • Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel: Flute Concerto in D minor,484.1, Wq 22
  • or Benda, Franz: Flute Concerto in E minor L 2.4
  • or 3 concertos by Vivaldi, Antonio:
    • No. 1 in F major, La tempesta di mare
    • No. 2 in G minor, RV 439, La notte
    • No. 3 in D major, RV 428, Il gardellino

Finale (3 finalists), with orchestra, performed from memory

• Mozart, Amadeus Wolfgang: Flute Concerto in G, KV 313
• Nielsen, Carl: Flute Concerto, FS 119

PRIZES

1st Prize

12.000 EUROS
A RECORDING DEAL WITH ORCHID CLASSICS (STUDIO/PR/CONDUCTOR, VALUE OF 13.000 EURO)
APPEARANCE WITH UP TO 10 EUROPEAN ORCHESTRAS AND/OR FESTIVALS

2nd Prize

10.000 EUROS

3rd Prize

8.000 EUROS

Prize for Best Danish Interpretation

2.000 EUROS
NEW PIECE BY A DANISH COMPOSER IS COMMISSIONED FOR EACH OF THE VIOLIN, CLARINET AND FLUTE COMPETITION

Odense Symphony Orchestra Prize

1.500 EUROS
AWARDED AMONG 3RD ROUND VIOLIN CONTESTANTS, AND FLUTE AND CLARINET FINALISTS

Children’s Jury Prize

1.500 EUROS
AWARDED AMONG THE FINALISTS

TIME SCHEDULE

VIOLIN

CLARINET