Concertino Praga – Antonín Dvořák International Radio Competition for Young Musicians, has been held since 1966. It is a multi-instrumental competition, whose mission is to seek out extraordinarily talented musicians up to 15 or 16 years of age.
The competitors are judged by an international jury over the course of two rounds. The first round is completely anonymous and based on the evaluation of the competitors’ recordings. The final round takes the form of a public concert held at the Rudolfinum.
The competition is organised by Czech Radio and the Academy of Classical Music. With its membership since 1988, the competition is one of the long standing members of EMCY.
Czech Radio – Concertino Praga
Academy of Classical Music
The participants should be aged up to 16/18/21 years old.
The competition has two rounds.
Every year
The deadline for submitting registrations and delivering the competition recordings for the 1st round is 31.03.2023.
Application requirements:
• recordings of the individual competition pieces in the WAV/PCM format – 16/24 bits – 44.1/48kHz;
• a full video recording of the realization of the competition recordings which the jury will view in the case of any doubts associated with how the competition recordings were made (this can be realized using a mobile telephone, as the jury will not take the video quality into account);
• the competitor’s profile up to a maximum of 1000 characters;
• five professional photographs of the competitor in print quality, including the photographer’s name (at least 300 dpi);
• the complete sheet music (without any personal markings);
• a copy of the competitor’s passport (in the case of foreign competitors);
• the repertoire for the 2nd round of the Competition – at least 2 pieces set for solo instrument and orchestra.
The competition recommends that the recordings should be made using professional equipment in the appropriate facilities (for example, in association with a radio station, EBU member). Any reduced quality on the recording can unfavorably influence the way it is evaluated. (The jury may be unable to differentiate between what has been caused by the recording quality and what is the result of the artist’s performance). Therefore, please pay sufficient attention to the quality of the recording.
The rules are listed as competition statue on the official website.
The final round will take place in the form of a public concert with an orchestra as part of the 2023 Dvořák Prague International Music Festival on 16.9.2023. The competitors will choose one of concertante pieces set for competitor’s solo instrument and orchestra. This means single or multiple-movement instrumental concertos and not individual movements from works. The candidates are required to be physically present at the Competition venue, i.e. in Prague, at least 3 days prior to the holding of the public final round for the purpose of rehearsals with the orchestra.
The organizer will provide compensation for the following costs: the transport and accommodation costs for the finalists and the designated understudies and their escorts in Prague and to the South Bohemian Concertino Praga festival, but only in the case of transport and accommodation organized by the organizer. The organizer will not cover any costs for travel or accommodation, which the laureate and his or her escort arrange themselves. If the laureates are minors, one accompanying individual is meant for each ensemble.
A Czech Radio employee will be responsible for the participants from the Czech Republic throughout the period of the aforementioned events. The accompaniment of a legal guardian is permitted, but the legal guardian must meet any associated costs.
Solo performance category on the following instruments: violin, violoncello, piano, cembalo, accordion, harp, guitar, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, saxophone and trombone.
Musicians who are under the age of 16 as of the date of the Competition’s public final round will be entitled to participate in the competition on the following instruments: violin, violoncello, piano, cembalo, accordion, harp and (i.e. those born on 15.9.2007 or later).
Musicians who are under the age of 18 as of the date of the Competition’s public final round will be entitled to participate in the competition on the following instruments: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, saxophone and trombone (i.e. those born on 15.9.2005 or later).
All of the instruments in the solo performance category will be evaluated together.
Chamber ensemble category in the following groupings: DUO | TRIO | QUARTET | QUINTET | SEXTET. The instrumental composition of the individual groupings is arbitrary; each ensemble may only include one keyboard instrument.
Musicians, whose average ages do not exceed the age of 20 as of the date of the Competition’s public final round, i.e. 15.9.2023, may perform in the ensembles ranging from duos to sextets. The oldest ensemble member must not be older than 21 as of the date of the public final competition, i.e. 14.9.2023.
The prize winners will receive the title “Laureate of the Concertino Praga competition”. The jury may also award “Honourable mentions”. The prize winners are invited to participate in the South Bohemian Concertino Praga festival in September 2022.
Prizes will be awarded in the form of special purpose scholarships for participation in master classes or contribution to the purchase of a musical instrument at the following amounts:
1st prize – 5 000 EUR
2nd prize – 2 800 EUR
3rd prize – 1 700 EUR
4th prize – 700 EUR
www.rozhlas.cz/concertino_english
