G.P. - Tag - Matacic

Off to another conducting competition

Sasha Mäkilä — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:51:00 +0100

Next time I will be writing from Katowice, Poland, where I will be taking part to the 8th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conducting Competition. The repertoire for that one is really big but consists of good mainstream repertoire plus some interesting Polish works. One could tour the world for a year just by combining those pieces into different concert programs!

I will meet a lot of friends in Katowice, whom I have met before in other competitions and master classes. I am really looking forward to some good time with them (in between studying, of course)! As for a couple of days I will have no pictures (I am still a beginner when it comes to uploading stuff to the net while I am abroad!) I will put here the pics I recently got from the organizers of the two previous competitions I took part in. Stay tuned!

These photos are from Zagreb (thanks Julijana!):

And these are from Luxembourg (thanks Anne!):

Results of the Lovro von Matacic conducting competition

Sasha Mäkilä — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 11:09:00 +0200

At the closing ceremony of the competition. Filip, Jin, me, Ayyub

Afterparty at the hotel lobby. The winner is easy to tell apart by his super-wide smile!

First Prize - Jimmy Chiang, UK

Second Prize - Eugene McDonough, USA

Third Prize - Hikaru Ebihara, Japan

Special prize for the best performance of "Sinfonietta" by Boris Papandopulo - Jin Suh, Korea

View from the concert hall...

Sasha Mäkilä — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:55:00 +0200

Today I unfortunately had to move to the concert hall to follow the competition, since I was not amongs the six lucky ones chosen to the semi-finals.

Our jury at work in the Vatroslav Lisinski concert hall. They did not use cameras so the back view of the participants was the only thing the jurors could see

I anyway had very interesting time watching everyone and taking notes at the same time. There were some surprises of course, so this competition seems to be like every other competition. The jury always makes some compromises, and maybe technically more talented conductor has to make way for a more energetic one. It all depends on what kind of conductors the jurors themselves are.

The youngest participant, maestro Kihara from Japan conducting the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. I was the oldest...

Besides the competition going on, the organization has been taking really good care of us. With this friendly atmosphere it is no wonder the participants seem to be making great friends here!

First round is over

Sasha Mäkilä — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:23:00 +0200

Filip lighting a candle at the Matacic family grave on our trip to Mirogoj cemetery

All the competitors and almost all the jury at the gates of the cemetery

Afterwards a reception at the palace of Zagreb's mayor. Sylvain, Michael, Yannick, Zhiva

This morning I finally conducted my first round. I think the waiting is the worst thing in competitions, and this time I had to wait really long before I could conduct. And consequently, if I pass on to the second round there will be very little time to prepare...

With singer Ivanka Boljkovac after performing Leonore's recitativo and aria from Fidelio

In the drawing I got Wagner "Rienzi" overture. Actually altogether six persons out of sixteen conduct Wagner, and nobody got Vltava by Smetana. The orchestra was one of the biggest I ever conducted, with 8 desks of first violins and eight basses!

Now I have to prepare a little bit for the second round, since nobody knows who are the lucky six to conduct tomorrow!

Matacic competition in Zagreb started

Sasha Mäkilä — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:03:00 +0200

The Lovro von Matacic competition in Zagreb, Croatia, started today. I got a big number in the initial drawing so I did not conduct today. Also the participants are not allowed to see others conduct before they are done, so I don't have much to tell about the orchestra either.

Maestros Yannick and Hikaru at our lunch restaurant "Radnic"

All the arrangements seem perfect, though. We are in a good hotel, all the meals are paid by the competition, everyone is concerned about us feeling like home... And the competitors seem to be a really nice bunch of people too!

At the opening ceremony: Jimmy, Jin and Robert

Filip, Sylvain, Yannick, Hikaru, Ayyub and Zhiva

A big factor in making the atmosphere here so relaxed is the fact, that everyone of us is allowed to stay here until the end of the competition. In most competitions when you go out, you go out, literally. Only in here and in the Vakhtang Jordania competition last summer I noticed such a collegial and nice atmosphere, due to the very fact that the participants are respected and they are well taken care of!

Mirko, Ludovic and Jimmy relaxing in the lobby of our four-star hotel "International"

As usual, I have taken a lot of photos, but seems the connections here are so slow that it is useless to put them on the net right now. So please come back next week and you can actually see what happened...

The chairman of the jury, maestro Klobucar, madame ~~...hmm, forgot her name~~ Metoda Lhotka, maestro Benic, the president of the Matacic Foundation. On the background maestro Muratovski