The Competition for Bassoon and Clarinet is postponed until 2022
The organisers of the 72nd annual 2020 Prague Spring International Music Competition regret to announce that this year’s competition for clarinet and bassoon cannot take place because of current events.
As a consequence of the cancellation of this year’s competition, the masterclasses with competition jurors Nicholas Cox (clarinet) and Ole Kristian Dahl (bassoon) will not take place either.
“At the beginning of May, about a hundred young musicians from 23 countries were supposed to be coming to Prague. We have always done our best to make the competition fair and to guarantee equal conditions for all participants. Given the present situation when schools are closing around the world and international transportation is paralysed, we are unable to guarantee this. Protecting people’s health is a priority for us, so we are proceeding in compliance with government decrees relating to the declared state of emergency in order to protect the wellbeing of not only competitors, but also jury members, accompanists, and our many team members who organise the smooth course of the competition,” said the competition secretary Michal Vencl. “We greatly appreciate the time and effort the competitors have devoted to their preparations. I firmly believe that they will present their artistry to the Prague Spring public on another occasion. We also wish to thank the competition jurors for their collegiality and positive attitude towards our competition and for their understanding given the emergency situation at present.”
Because of the large numbers of foreign participants, the necessity of preparations in advance, and the importance of coordination of scheduling with other foreign competitions, the competition for clarinet and bassoon cannot be held on an alternate date either this year or next year, when plans call for a competition for young pianists and string quartets. At this time, the preliminary plan is to hold a bassoon and clarinet competition again in 2022.
