The Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition is a German competition for conductors that occurs biennially in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, at the Alte Oper. The cooperating music organisations are the
Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester
The Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester ''(Frankfurt Opera House and Museum's Orchestra)'' is the resident orchestra of the Oper Frankfurt. Its somewhat peculiar name is derived from the series of "Museum Concerts", organized by the Frankfurte ...
and the
hr-Sinfonieorchester
The Frankfurt Radio Symphony (german: hr-Sinfonieorchester) is the radio orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. From 1929 to 1950 it was named ''Frankfurter Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester''. ...
. The competition was founded in memory of Sir
Georg Solti, who led the
Frankfurt Opera during 1952–1961. The patroness of the competition for many years was Valerie,
Lady Solti, the widow of Sir Georg Solti.
Prize money
the prize money is:
* 1st prize €15,000
* 2nd prize €10,000
* 3rd prize €5,000
* Audience award
The audience award is linked to the symbolic handover of an original conducting baton from Sir Georg Solti from his time in Frankfurt.
The winners of the first and second prizes are given the prospect of conducting the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra (concert and opera) and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Other orchestras are holding out the prospect of guest conductors or assistance.
Recipients
* 2002 2nd prize:
Tomáš Netopil
Tomáš Netopil (born 18 July 1975 in Přerov) is a Czech conductor. He conducted the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 2005 and made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2006. In 2006, he also conducted at the Salzburg Festiva ...
(Czech Republic). 3rd prize:
Ching-Po Paul Chiang (Taiwan) and
Ruben Gazarian (Armenia).
* 2004 1st prize:
James Gaffigan (United States) and
Ivo Venkov (Bulgaria). 2nd prize:
Johannes Gustavsson (Sweden).
* 2006 1st prize:
Shi-Yeon Sung
Shi-Yeon Sung (born 1975, in Busan) is a South Korean classical conductor. In 2006, she became the first woman to win first prize in the Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition. In 2007, she won second prize in Bamberg's Gustav Mah ...
(Korea) 2nd prize:
Shizuo Z Kuwahara (United States). 3rd prize:
Matthew Coore (Australia).
* 2008 1st prize:
Shizuo Z Kuwahara (United States). 2nd prize:
Eugene Tzigane
Eugene Tzigane (IPA – Ju:dʒi:n tsi'ga:n) (real name: Gene McDonough) is a symphonic and operatic conductor. He's serving as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of Kuopio Symphony Orchestra in Kuopio, Finland, since 2023.
Biography
Tziga ...
(United States). 3rd prize:
Andreas Hotz (Germany).
* 2010 1st prize:
José Luís Gómez Ríos (Spain). 2nd prize:
Kevin Griffiths (Great Britain). 3rd prize:
Tito Muñoz
Tito Arturo Muñoz (born July 14, 1983) is an American conductor and is Music Director of The Phoenix Symphony. He was previously Music Director of the Opéra national de Lorraine and Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy in Nancy, France, ...
(United States).
* 2012 1st prize:
Daye Lin (China). 2nd prize:
Daniel Smith (Australia). 3rd prize:
Brandon Keith Brown (United States).
* 2015 2nd prize:
Tung-Chieh Chuang (Taiwan) and
Elias Grandy (Germany). 3rd prize:
Toby Thatcher
Toby C Thatcher (born 28 January 1989) is an Australian-British conductor.
Thatcher is Artistic Director of the Nineteenth Circle, a group of 19th Century-specialist performers committed to diversifying the voice within classical music programmi ...
(Australia). Audience award: Tung-Chieh Chuang (Taiwan).
* 2017 1st prize:
Valentin Uryupin (Russia). 2nd prize:
Wilson Ng (Hong Kong). 3rd prize:
Farkhad Khudyev (Turkmenistan). Audience award: Valentin Uryupin (Russia).
* 2020 1st prize:
Tianyi Lu (New Zealand).
2nd prize:
Gábor Hontvári (Hungary) and
Johannes Zahn
Johannes Christoph Andreas Zahn (1 August 1817 in Eschenbach/ Pegnitz – 17 February 1895 in Neuendettelsau) was a German theologian and musicologist best known for his opus ''Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder'', a critical ...
(Germany). Audience award: Johannes Zahn (Germany).
References
External links
* {{in lang, de, en
Conducting competitions
Biennial events