Winners

We all know that music is not a sport, so why bother going to music competitions? They are unfair, there is always politics involved, the winners will be forgotten in a year, and so on and so on. There are countless excuses not to go, but after taking part to more than ten (!) competitions I figured out at least ten reasons why you should kick your own butt and send that tape!

You learn new repertoire. A pianist or a violinist can pick and choose whatever repertoire he or she fancies and after a week of study he/she can come out of the practice room and play it. With us conductors it is a "little bit" different. When you are a student there just is no romantic orchestra available whenever you want to play some Strauss. Therefore the motivation to learn new works is often low. When you decide to take part to a conducting competition you will come out of it with a bunch of scores you can perform anywhere after that. It is a great way to expand your repertoire.

You get a taste of disciplined study with a deadline. When you embark on a professional conducting career, you will be all the time faced with deadlines and you have to manage your time so that you have time to learn all the works you are going to perform. Conducting is a special kind of profession, because most of the preparation happens at home. Many times spouses or kids don't get the fact you need many hours per day silent study time to manage your deadlines. Preparing for a conducting competition is a good taster of the "real life" of a conductor. You have a pile of scores, a deadline, and one month to prepare. What will you do?

You get "free orchestra time". Yes, so many of us study in schools where the orchestra time is more and more limited each passing year. Some of us finish our studies without seeing the orchestra before the diploma concert rehearsals start. A conducting competition is one more chance to step on that podium and gain experience in conducting a real live orchestra.

You meet colleagues and network. Many of you might not believe this, but one of the best things that happened to me in conducting competitions is that I made great friends. It is so refreshing to have 20 or so smart and cultured polyglot people around you for a week! You will make friends with people all around the globe and later in your career that will be a huge plus.

You learn from seeing others conduct (if it is allowed). Most conducting competitions allow you see others conduct. While I don't recommend hanging in the hall just prior your own turn, I think it is really interesting to see how other young conductors work. You will see so many different ways to use your hands, hear so many ways to describe music in words. Different use of energy, different temperaments. And of course you will see where you stand in the group of the young conductors of today.

You learn from the jury decisions (unless you win). No matter how unfair the jury decisions seem, there is always a reason to the choices they make. If you stay and see the conductors after you are eliminated, you should watch them very carefully and think what it is they have and you don't. Is it the hair cut or the arrogant pose? Or are they more energetic or communicative? Are they radiating authority? Take a look at the jury as well. What kind of conductors are the jurors? Sometimes they are just looking for a younger clone of themselves!

You get to travel to a new country and widen your horizons. I have to admit: One of the reasons I like competitions so much is that I love to travel. But I hate being a tourist! To me a trip needs a purpose, always. For people like artists traveling is like oxygen. You learn so much when you go to a new place with new kind of people, speaking a foreign language. I always grab a phrasebook before I go and try to learn a bit of the local language.

You get publicity. How, if I don't win anything, you might ask. Well, consider this: You don't just walk to a conducting competition and say you want to conduct. Usually 50-500 people worldwide apply and only the most promising ones are invited based on their videos and resumes. The fact you are invited means you belong to the very top of the young conductors of today! This fact in itself is enough to make the local news. Write and send that press release today!

Your performance might result in conducting engagements even if you don't win! Yes, this happened to two of my friends. One of them was kicked out after the 2nd round but the same night was promised a concert by the manager of the competition orchestra! Another friend of mine made it to the semi-finals of a big competition and as a result he got an agent! And no, the agent was not interested in the winners of that competition at all.

You might actually win a prize! You might be surprised how many times it happens to the people who didn't expect it. When the Finnish conductor Okko Kamu took part in the very first Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in 1969, he had to run shopping for new scores every time the next round competitors were announced. He ended up winning the whole competition! If you win, you will get good publicity, good money and a couple of concert engagements. Now go fill that application! See you next time!