WOLFGANG Amadeus Mozart’s manuscripts, first editions of Violin Concerto in D major K 211 composed in 1802, sonata for piano and violin composed in 1764, and Johann Georg Mansfeld’s copperplate etching, WA Mozart, created in 1789, Eduard Friedrich Leybold’s coloured lithograph Mozart Family created in 1856, and many more treasures, will be on display at Huafa & CPAA Grand Theatre between September 20 and 26 free of charge, it was announced at a press conference last Monday.
At the same time, a culture and music forum, at which renowned foreign and Chinese music experts will discuss Mozart’s great achievements and influence, development of classical music, and impact of music to a city, will take place during the first Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians.
Vice Mayor Long Guangyan recalled the process through which the Zhuhai and Salzburg parties teamed up to earnestly promote the event. They had delivered invitations and application forms to 68 professional musical troupes and received 535 replies from 36 countries, far beyond expectation. A total of 137 entries, including more than 80 Chinese candidates, from 23 countries and territories were selected in the end, she said.
Experts on jury
Klaus Kaufmann, professor of piano and head of the Department of Keyboard Studies of Mozarteum University Salzburg, will co-chair the judging panel with Paul Roczek, professor of violin and Quartet in Residence International Affairs of Mozarteum University Salzburg. Eighteen judges, including the president, department heads and professors of the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Conservatoire Superieur de Paris, and Royal College of Music in London, and jury chairman and judges of International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn, the Niccolo Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa and other world-famous music competitions, will be world-renowned pianists and violinists from ten countries including China. Zubin Mehta, an Indian conductor of Western classical music, will serve as honorary president. He is known for a flamboyant and passionate style of conducting. He desires that the Mozart competition become a cradle for finding and cultivating world-class musicians.
Serial events
To encompass piano and violin, the competition will contain Group A contestants aged 14 and below, Group B between ages 15 and 17, and Group C of musicians aged 18 to 23. The top four of each group will be selected as final winners for 20 prizes. The violin group competition will occur between September 14 and 22, while the piano group will compete from September 16 to 25. A grand awards presentation ceremony will be held on September 26.
Furthermore, starting today, the organising committee initiated the Mozart Music Entering Classroom Programme, through which training sessions and instrumental performances will be provided to local middle and primary school music teachers. The trained teachers, in turn, will convey the sessions to students, who are expected to write about it in a citywide article solicitation activity organised by the municipal Education Bureau.
Meanwhile, master classes and lectures will be offered at the concert hall of the theatre, when nine violin judges will present classical music on September 23-25.
The 100-day countdown was initiated by a hundred musicians or amateurs playing a Mozart piece each over any type of musical instrument at Huafa Mall early June.
The official website of the competition and recruitment was initiated last November. Lu Yao, executive director of the competition, explained that Mozart’s musical pieces will be played by each participant throughout the entire competition. The players will have to comprehend and interpret musical movements while Camerata Salzburg will accompany, she said.
To be held at Huafa & CPAA Grand Theatre on September 13-16, the biennial event is authorised by the Ministry of Culture of the PRC and is to be hosted by both the Zhuhai Municipal People's Government and Mozarteum University Salzburg in Austria and organised by Huafa Group with support organisations of the Chinese Musicians Association, China International Cultural Association and Embassy of Austria in China.
The 11th International Mozart Competition of Mozarteum University Salzburg, which encompasses violin and piano for one year and chamber and vocal music for another, took place last February.
Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg. To mark the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, the winners will be invited back for performances next year, Lu revealed.
Well prepared
The Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians has joined the Alink-Argerich Foundation (AAF), an independent worldwide information and service centre for musicians and competitions, and a unique organisation offering the most complete details on music competitions ever compiled.
Upon confirmation of the contestants, the calendar has been scheduled and players’ performing musical movements proof-accounted. Various brochures for judges and contestants and about bands and piano accompaniments have been finalised. Detailed rating rules, judges’ background as well as the competition handbook have also been confirmed.
Aside from this, accommodations, traffic and security schemes and contingency plans have been worked out and are being improved. The organising committee will also provide round-the-clock medical services during the event.
In the meantime, volunteers have been selected and trainings will be conducted for proper services, according to the organiser.
(ZD News)
