Every year, the Faculty of Music of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (HF JAMU) organises the prestigious International Leoš Janáček Competition in Brno.
The jubilee 30th year of this interpretation competition in the fields of flute and clarinet takes place on the 16th-22nd September. The final rounds of the competition in both disciplines will take place on Sunday, 22 September in Besední dům, where the contestants will perform accompanied by the Czech Virtuosi orchestra conducted by Vít Spilka, and the Ensemble Opera Diversa orchestra conducted by Gabriela Tardonová.
The international competition bears the name of the world-famous composer Leoš Janáček, and continues his legacy by finding and supporting young artists under the age of 35. Talented performers from all over the world come to Brno every year to demonstrate their talent in front of international juries made up of renowned experts. String quartet and violin, French horn and tuba, cello and double bass, piano and organ, and this year’s flute and clarinet alternate regularly in five-year cycles.
The competition is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture. The Culture Minister Martin Baxa praised “an international competition that, through the work of Leoš Janáček, nurtures young talents, discovers the beauty of classical music with them, and at the same time strengthens the prestige of both the faculty itself and the entire region, and not only in the world of music. And it has been doing so successfully for a respectable three decades!”
A total of 133 performers, 45 flautists and 88 clarinetists, entered the competition this year, from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Latvia, Finland, Hungary, France, as well as South America, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Israel.
“During my concerts abroad this year, I learned from various sources that the Leoš Janáček International Competition is considered a globally important competition, through which a number of outstanding personalities get to know Brno and the Czech Republic,” added Barbara Maria Willi, dean of the HF JAMU.
The jury for the flute category will be chaired by Prof. Philippe Bernold from the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse (France); the chairmanship of the clarinet jury was accepted by Prof. Paolo Beltramini from Italy, working at the Hochschule für Musik in Luzern (Switzerland). Competitors who win the prestigious title will also receive a financial award: CZK 100,000 for first place, CZK 70,000 for second, and CZK 40,000 for third, in both categories. There are also special prizes provided by the competition’s partners Buffet Crampon (Paris, France) and Powell Flutes (Boston, USA), as well as the CRo Brno Award, created for the 30th year of the competition and the 100th anniversary of the first radio broadcast in South Moravia. The highest-placed Czech participant will win the opportunity to make a recording free of charge in the CRo Brno studio and media space.
The competition in each discipline takes place in three rounds. The venue for the first and second rounds is the Orlí Theater for the flute and the HF JAMU Concert Hall for the clarinet. The finals will take place on Sunday 22 September in Besední dům, in the flute from 11.30 am, accompanied by the Czech Virtuosi orchestra under the baton of conductor Vít Spilka, and in the clarinet from 5.30 pm in collaboration with the Ensemble Opera Diversa orchestra, with conductor Gabriela Tardonová. All artistic performances are open to the public free of charge.
“We will be watching the performances of young clarinetists and flutists again this year in the Besední dům,” said Marketa Vankova, Mayor of Brno. “Since the end of the 19th century, Master Janáček led the fight for the promotion of Czech and modern culture in this Czech bastion in the middle of Brno, which was still predominantly German at the time. I wish the young artists to properly enjoy the atmosphere of this place, and I believe that Janáčkovo Brno will start their successful journey to the stages of the whole world.”
More detailed information about the competition can be found at hf.jamu.cz/mslj/ or on Facebook.
