The 70th Geneva Competition will be presenting composition. This new discipline pursues the tradition of the Reine Marie José Prize and aims at encouraging and supporting contemporary creation.

• Application deadline : 31 March 2015
• Public final : 8 November 2015
• Subject of the competition : String Quartet

With the support of the Queen Marie José Foundation :

Michael Jarrell, Chairman
Pascal Dusapin
Luca Francesconi
Dai Fujikura
Wolfgang Rihm
 

With the support of Reine Marie José Foundation

70^th Concours de Genève – Geneva International Music Competition
COMPOSITION PRIZE

With the support of Reine Marie José Foundation

General conditions

The 70^th Geneva International Music Competition will be presenting composition. This discipline pursues the tradition of the Queen Marie José Prize and aims at encouraging and promoting contemporary creation and supporting a high-quality performance. 

Conditions of participation

The Geneva Competition's Composition Prize will be awarded in November 2015. Its objective is to distinguish a new work that has not yet been created. Performance in Music Academies or within a private context will not be taken into consideration. The competition is open to composers of all nationalities born after April 1st, 1975 (40 years old). Composers who have already won the Queen Marie Jose International Music Composition Prize or the Geneva International Music Competition's Composition Prize are not eligible to take part in this competition.

Work

The subject of the Composition Prize 2015 is a work for String Quartet, in its classical meaning: violin 1, violin 2, viola and cello, without electronics. The piece must not last longer than 20 minutes. The Jury of the Composition Prize will select the final pieces during the Spring 2015. These works will be performed as World Premiere during the final round, which will be held in Geneva in November, 2015. The prize-winning work will then be performed during the final rounds of the 2016 String Quartet competition. The musical score may be hand-written or in electronic form, but must be perfectly legible.

Registration

The registration deadline is March 31, 2015 (date stamp by the postal service as proof). Candidates may register directly on our website www.concoursgeneve.ch or using the attached registration form.

Your registration will not be considered as final until the following documents have been received (by post or by e-mail – in the latter case, kindly be careful regarding the quality of the attachments):

• Three musical scores, with a title or a motto, all completely readable and original, without the least mention of the composer, since the candidate must remain anonymous for the Jury.
• As well as the following documents:

1. Competition registration form
2. Official proof of the candidate's age (birth certificate or passport photocopy)
3. Your resumé (studies taken, institutions, teachers, professional activities)
4. Two different and recent high-quality photos
5. Proof of payment of the registration fee
6. A commentary on the work presented
7. Authorisation for its performance and broadcast

All candidates who send these documents by e-mail must check with the Competition management that their registration is valid by requesting an acknowledgement of receipt

Registration fee

Amount of the fee : the registration fee for the 2015 Geneva Competition is CHF 100 (one hundred Swiss francs) payable in a single instalment. Payment should be made to:

Banque Cantonale de Genève
Quai de l’Ile 17
Case postale 2251
CH - 1211 Geneva 2

Swift N°: BCGECHGG
IBAN N°: CH 33 0078 8000 S 077 6119 5
Account N°: S 776.11.95
Clearing: 788
Account holder: Concours de Genève

Payment terms:

Payment can be made by credit card (Visa or Eurocard/Mastercard) directly on our website. In this case, candidates will need to send us a copy of their payment along with the registration documents. Cheques are not accepted. The registration fee is refundable under no circumstances.

Procedure

An international selection committee, composed of five well-known personalities, including the President and another member of the final Jury, will meet at the beginning of April, 2015, in order to make a preliminary selection (maximum 60 scores). In early May 2015, the official Jury will examine the compositions chosen by the selection committee. The Jury will choose at the most 4 finalists' works to be publicly performed in Geneva in November 2015 by String Quartet prize-winners of the Geneva Competition.

At the end of the final concert, the Jury will give the results in the presence of the finalists and the public. The results of the selections will be posted on the website at the end of May 2015. Finalists will receive a personal confirmation.

Official Prize

The amount awarded by the Geneva Competition for its Composition Prize is 15,000 Swiss francs (approx. 12,000 Euros). The Jury may also decide not to award the Prize. Its decisions are taken by an absolute majority vote of its members, and the President has the casting vote in case of an equality of votes. The Prize is not divisible.

Jury

The Geneva International Music Competition's Artistic Committee is solely responsible for appointing the 5 members of the international Jury. They are chosen for their international reputation in the world of music, independently of any racial, ideological, political or linguistic considerations. The Jury’s decisions cannot be appealed. By agreeing to take part in the competition, all competitors undertake to accept and not contest these decisions.

Jury members (2015):

Mr. Michael JARRELL, Switzerland, Chairman
Mr. Pascal DUSAPIN, France
Mr. Luca FRANCESCONI, Italy
Mr. Dai FUJIKURA, Japan
Mr. Wolfgang RIHM, Germany

Rights

The prize-winning work remains the full and complete property of its author, who takes personal written responsibility for allowing it to be performed and broadcast, free of any rights (with the exception of copyright and editing right), particularly during the 2016 String Quartet competition.

Documents will not be returned to the sender.

Finalists selected for the Composition Prize 2015

Sunghyun Lee, South Korea, 20 years old
Work for string quartet: « Moment étincelant »

Sunghyun Lee is currently studying composition at the Seoul National University with Uzong Choe. He has already won a number of distinctions, including 1^st Prize at the Korea Journal of Music Competition, 2^nd Prize at the Estonian National Academy of Music Competition and 1^st Prize at the Music Association of Korea Competition. His works were performed by the Friction Quartet in 2013, by the Tongyeong International Music Festival Ensemble in 2014 and by the Daegu International Contemporary Music Festival Ensemble in 2015. Sunghyun Lee participated in masterclasses with South-Korean composer Unsuk Chin between 2009 and 2014. He also benefited from her teaching during the Tongyeong International Music Festival Academy in 2011.

 

 

Adérito Valente, Portugal, 35 years old
Work for string quartet: « Onis ex tempore »

Shoichi Yabuta, Japan, 32 years old
Work for string quartet: « Billow »

Hankyeol Yoon, South Korea, 21 years old
Work for string quartet: « Klangfoto »

Laureate of the Composition Prize 2015                  CHF 15’000.-
Mr. Shoichi Yabuta, Japon, 32 ans

SPECIAL PRIZES

Foundation Otto & Régine Heim Prize                     CHF 3’000.-
Mr. Aderito Valente, Portugal, 35 ans 

Audience Prize                                                           CHF 1’500.- 
Mr. Sunghyun Lee, Corée du Sud, 20 ans
Awarded by the public during the final round

Young Audience Prize                                               CHF 1’000.-
Mr. Sunghyun Lee, Corée du Sud, 20 ans
Awarded by the students of partner schools, presented by Médecins Sans Frontières

Students Prize                                                            CHF 1’000.-
Mr. Sunghyun Lee, Corée du Sud, 20 ans
Awarded by students on the faculty of musicology, presented by Mr and Ms. Hervieu-Causse

The laureate received a Breguet watch