The 2022 Prague Spring International Music Competition will be held in place of the competition cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. For this reason, the following special conditions shall apply for applicants to the competition for both instruments:

1. The preliminary round of the 2020 competition took place entirely in accordance with the Competition Terms and Conditions, so the results shall remain valid.
2. Because of the two-year delay, the age limit shall be raised to 32 for this special case, so competitors born on or after 7 May 1990 may take part in the competition.
3. The competition repertoire shall remain unchanged for both instruments, including the newly composed compulsory compositions. The concert halls and the accompanying orchestras will also remain unchanged.
4. The jury members will be the same, but the competition presenter reserves the right to make changes to the juries.
5. Applicants accepted for the competition in 2020 must submit a new, binding registration using the on-line form no later than by 30 September 2021, and by that same deadline they must also pay the participation fee of EUR 80. Applicants who fail to do so by the deadline will not be able to take part in the competition. The registration form and information about making payments will be announced in June 2021.
6. If some applicants who have been accepted for the competition decide not to participate, an additional preliminary round will be held to fill the vacancies with the same repertoire and selection committee as in 2020. The number of vacancies will be announced by 10 Oct. 2021. If there are vacancies, an application form will be made available on the same day.
7. The scores of the newly composed compulsory works have already been sent to the applicants who were accepted for the competition. We would remind you that these compositions are to be given their premieres during the second round of the competition in In order to maintain equal conditions for everyone, it will be possible to purchase the scores of these works from the publisher beginning on 1 May 2020.

The Prague Spring International Music Festival announces that a new annual prize will be awarded in its competition to be called: “The Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Prize.”

The new award will support young artists and encourage their performances in the international concert world. The first awardee will be the winner of the clarinet contest in May 2020, who will receive a prize of US$ 1,500 with up to a further US$ 8,500 being provided to support performances by the winner of compositions by Viktor Kalabis.

The prize has been named to honour the Czech harpsichordist Professor Zuzana Růžičková (1927-2017) and her husband, the composer Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006). “It is a great honour and joy for the Prague Spring to commemorate the artistic legacy of this extraordinary couple in the Prague Spring Competition,” said the festival’s director Roman Bělor.

“The unique character of the prize lies in its two-part division, which combines a direct financial award to the laureate plus support of their artistic career,” noted Aleš Březina, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Endowment Fund (Prague, Czech Republic). He explained, “In total US$ 10,000 will be provided each year. The winner will receive US$ 1,500 directly and our Fund will provide a further US$ 8,500 so that the winner is able to perform compositions by Viktor Kalabis before international audiences.”

Zuzana Růžičková and Viktor Kalabis made extraordinary musical contributions in their home country and internationally (for full details please visit www.kalabismusic.org). Support for the new prize is provided by the Prague-based Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Endowment Fund and by the Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Foundation (Washington DC, USA).

The 72nd edition of the Prague Spring International Music Competition will be held from 7 to 15 May. The first round of the clarinet category will take place on 9 and 10 May at the National House in Prague-Vinohrady; the second round will be conducted in the Martinů Hall of the Academy on 12 May. The final will be concluded on 14 May from 6 p.m. in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, accompanied by the Prague Philharmonia under the baton of Chuheie Iwasaki. The Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Prize will be presented together with the main prizes of the competition on 15 May at 11 a.m. in the Brožík Assembly Hall of Prague’s Old Town Hall.

Emily Vogl, Chair of the U.S.-based foundation stated: “We are enormously appreciative of the leadership of the Prague Spring Music Festival Competition and our sister foundation in Prague for launching this new prize, which we believe will encourage young artists to become far more familiar with Viktor Kalabis’s many wonderful compositions.”

Prague Spring Festival director Roman Bělor stated: “The Festival has featured many performances of the works of Viktor Kalabis. Moreover, Prof. Zuzana Růžičková took to the Prague Spring stage in innumerable artistic creations and ranks among the historically most performing protagonists of the festival. Her merits also include her active interest in the character of the festival and especially its competitive part, whose modern form she co-developed for many long years both as a leading figure of the Permanent Competition Commission and as a member and chairwoman of competition juries. The Prague Spring thus continues to equate her name with a benchmark of artistic mastery and human values.”

The Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Endowment Fund was established in 2000 and its U.S. sister foundation was launched in 2006. Both organizations support recording projects, concert organisers, and artists who advance the artistic legacy of its founders. The U.S. foundation has sponsored the award-winning documentary film about Zuzana and Viktor titled – “Zuzana: Music Is Life.”  The Prague-based fund hosts an annual memorial concert for Prof. Zuzana Růžičková. In 2018, it launched the Endowment Fund Prize at the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague where the 2019 laureate was the violinist Jan Mráček.

Zuzana Růzičková’s memoir, written in conjunction with Wendy Holden, – One Hundred Miracle: A Memoir of Music and Survival – was published in English, Czech and German in 2019 and further language editions will be published in 2020.

You can buy this sheet music via e-mail address nakladatelstvi@rozhlas.cz or through the website:

• Zdeněk Lukáš: Rondo for Bassoon and Piano Op. 168
  https://www.radioteka.cz/detail/CRo_adm_533203/

• Rudolf Kubín: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (short score)
  https://www.radioteka.cz/detail/CRo_adm_533598/Rudolf-Kubin-Koncert-pro-klarinet-a-orchestr-klavirni-vytah

The Czech Radio Music Publishing Department will also publish the two pieces commissioned by IMC Prague Spring written by Petr Wajsar and Jan Dušek which we will hear in the world premiere during the second rounds of the competition. Both pieces will be sold to the general public after the end of the competition on Czech Radio website.

The registration will be open at the beginning of September. You will find the complete competition rules, repertoire, schedule and the on-line application form on our website.

The instrumentalists interested in taking part in this competition should complete the on-line application and submit it together with other necessary materials including a recording for the preliminary round. The application deadline is 3 December 2019.

JURIES

Renowned soloists, teachers, and orchestral players have promised to sit on the juries, and we are already eagerly anticipating our cooperation with them.

The chairman of the bassoon jury will be Carlo Colombo, professor at the Conservatoire National Superiéur de Musique in Lyon and a long-time member of the Lyon National Opera Orchestra. Other jury members are Bence Bognáyi, professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Nürnberg and solo bassoon of the Munich Philharmonic, Ole Kristian Dahl, professor at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim and solo bassoon of the Swedish National Orchestra, Richard Galler, solo bassoon of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and professor at the “Mozarteum” Salzburg and at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Jaroslav Kubita, solo bassoon of the Czech Philharmonic and professor at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, Laurent Lefèvre, solo bassoon of the Orchestre de l´Opéra de Paris and professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris and Matthias Rácz, solo bassoon of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and professor at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste.

Leading the clarinet jury will be Harri Mäki, professor at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and was the solo clarinet of Tapiola Sinfonietta, who will be joined by Nicholas Cox, professor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, Igor Františák, professor at the Faculty of Arts of the Ostrava University, Johannes Gmeinder, professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Mainz and in Saar, Michel Lethiec, professor at the Conservatoire National Superiéur de Musique at de Danse de Paris and artistic director of the Festival Pablo Casals in Prades, Vlastimil Mareš, solo clarinet of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and Masatoshi Tanaka, lector at the Tokyo Gakugei University

NEW COMPOSITIONS

Prague Spring has once again commissioned a new composition for each instrument in the upcoming competition. Petr Wajsar composes a work for solo bassoon, and Jan Dušek writes a composition for clarinet. Competitors will be sent these compositions three months before the competition is held, and the world premieres will be heard during the second round on 11 May 2020 for bassoon and on 12 May 2020 for clarinet. The Foundation of the Czech Music Fund is also offering a prize for the best performance of these compositions.

Results of the preliminary round will be announced no later than 20 January 2020 on our website.

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The 71st International Music Competition has been closed with the performances of our flutist and the jury decided who will become the laureates of this year’s competition. 

We could have heard  Quartet in G major for flute, violin, viola and cello Op. 98/3 by Antonín Rejcha in cooperation with members of the Bennewitz Quartet. We could also hear pieces such as Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in G major KV 313, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in D major KV 314 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and also Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in D major by Vilém Blodek. These were in cooperation with PKF – Prague Philharmonic conducted by Stanislav Vavřínek.

Neither today the jury have a easy decision-making but they decided to award these finalist in following order:

1st prize – Chaeyeon You, Republic of Korea

2nd prize ex auequo – Anna Talácková , Czech Republic & Yuan Yu, China

3rd prize – Niamh McKenna, Germany / Ireland

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Today’s finals of the which took place at the Dvořák’s Hall in Rudolfinum was a peak of the competition in OBOE category. The candidates’ performances was fantastic, where the visitors could listen to pieces such as Concerto for Oboe and Strings in A minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra H 353 by Bohuslav Martinů in cooperation with Prague Symphony Chamber Orchestra conducted by Ondřej Vrabec.

The jurors had to decide who of the finalists will become the laureate of International Music Competition Prague Spring 2019. After their decision-making, they decided for this order.

1st prize – Martin Daněk, Czech Republic

2nd prize ex aequo – Gabriel Pidoux, France & Seongyung Yun, Republic of Korea

3rd prize – was not awarded

The jury have decided to award two other prizes:

Honorable Mention of the Jury of the First Grade to Shota Takahashi from Japan

Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Prize to Martin Daněk from Czech Republic.

Tomorrow there is the Finals of FLUTE category and thanks to the Czech Radio, you can watch it live here: 1st part and 2nd part.

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