The first edition of the Fosco Corti International Competition for Choir Conductors is organised by the Conservatorio "G. Verdi" in Turin, Feniarco and the Associazione Cori Piemontese in partnership with the European Choral Association-Europa Cantat.
The competition will be held on 29th, 30th and 31st October 2020 at the Conservatorio G. Verdi in Turin, Via Mazzini 11.
The competition is open to conductors of all world's nationalities. All participants must be born between 1st November 1980 and 28th October 2002. A maximum number of 17 conductors are admitted to the competition in addition to the winner of the 5th Competition for choir conductors Le mani in suono held in Arezzo on 21-23 February 2020. Participants will be selected upon scrutinizing all the eligible application materials, videos, curriculum vitae and other paper works.
The competition falls into three parts: preliminary, semi-final and final.
PRELIMINARY ROUND
First part: performance, without the possibility of concertation, of two pieces out of four, drawn on the evening of Wednesday 28 October.
The conductors' performance order will also be drawn on the evening of Wednesday 28 October.
Second part: concertation, (7 minutes maximun lenght) of a piece, among four, drawn of lots at the
designated time. The final performance of the piece is not mandatory.
The conductors' performance order will be reversed with respect to the first part.
At the end of the preliminary round, the jury will announce the candidates who will enter the semifinal (maximum 10 conductors) and the candidates' order will then be drawn.
SEMI-FINAL ROUND
First part: concertation and performance of a mandatory piece and of a piece, among three, drawn of lots at the designated time. The contestants will have a maximum time of 15 minutes.
Second part: concertation and performance of a mandatory piece and of a piece, among three, drawn of lots at the designated time. The contestants will have a maximum time of 15 minutes.
At the end of the semi-final rounds the jury will announce the candidates who will enter the final rounds (maximum 5 conductors).
FINAL ROUND
First part: each candidate will have 30 minutes to perform the compulsory piece and two other pieces drawn by lot, at the moment, among four proposed. The jury will be present at the rehearsal which, therefore, will be evaluated.
Second part: each candidate must perform the three concerted pieces in the first part of the final.
PRELIMINARY ROUND
First part
1. Ivo Antognini (1963) Canticum novum [SSSAAA, ed. Walton Music WW174]
2. Michael Bojesen (1960) Gloria [SSAA, ed. Egtved WHFU84]
3. Pietro Ferrario (1967) Jubilate Deo [SSAA, ed. Carus-Verlag]
4. Arvo Pärt (1935) Zwei Beter [SSAA, ed. Universal Edition UE31297]
♪ Coro Artemusica of Valperga | youth female choir | conductor Debora Bria
Second part
1. Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (1566-1613) O vos omnes [SATTB, transcr. Feniarco]
2. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Domine, ne in furore tuo [SATTBB, transcr. Feniarco]
3. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) Ego sum panis vivus [SATB, transcr. Feniarco]
4. Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) Tenebræ factæ sunt [SATB, transcr. Feniarco]
♪ Genova Vocal Ensemble & Sibi Consoni of Genova | youth mixed choir| conductor Roberta Paraninfo
SEMI-FINAL ROUND
First part
Compulsory piece:
1. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (choir) from Cantata BWV 12 [SATB, ed. Bärenreiter TP 1012] with basso continuo
By lottery:
1. William H. Harris (1883-1973) Bring us, O Lord God [SATB+SATB, ed. Novello MUSNOV292347]
2. Dom McDonald (1966), Pacem [SSAATB, ed. Hal Leonard, HL50600844]
3. Healey Willan (1880-1968) How they so softly rest [SSAATTBB, ed. courtesy of the Willan Foundation]
♪ Coro da camera of Torino | mixed choir | conductor Dario Tabbia
Second part
Compulsory piece:
1. Francesco Corteccia (1502-1571) Ecce vidimus eum [TTTB, transcr. Feniarco]
By lottery:
1. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Beati mortui [TTBB, ed. Carus-Verlag CV 40.190/20]
2. Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Die Nacht [TTBB, ed. Breitkopf & Härtel ChB 4795]
3. Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Die Rose stand im Tau [TTBBB, ed. Peters EP2527C]
♪ Coenobium vocale / male choir | conductor Maria Dal Bianco
FINAL ROUND
First part
Compulsory piece:
1. To be defined
By lottery:
1. To be defined
2. To be defined
3. To be defined
4. To be defined
♪ international professional choir (to be announced soon)
Second part
Pieces reharsed during the first part.
► Wednesday 28th October 2020
06:30pm: participants' presentation, extraction of the pieces for the first part of the semifinal and of the performance's order of the candidates.
► Thursday 29th October 2020
PRELIMINARY ROUND
First part
10:00am n. 6 candidates
11:00am n. 6 candidates
12.00pm n. 6 candidates
Second part
04:00pm n. 6 candidates (7 minutes each)
05:00pm n. 6 candidates (7 minutes each)
06:00pm n. 6 candidates (7 minutes each)
07:45pm announcement of the admitted candidates to the semifinal, extraction of the candidates performance's order and of the pieces of the semi-final's first part
► Friday 30th October 2020
SEMIFINAL ROUNDS
First part
10:00am n. 4 candidates (15 minutes each)
11:15am n. 4 candidates (15 minutes each)
12:30am n. 2 candidates (15 minutes each)
Second part
04:00pm n. 4 candidates (15 minutes each)
05:15pm n. 4 candidates (15 minutes each)
06:30pm n. 2 candidates (15 minutes each)
07:45pm announcement of the admitted candidates to the final
► Saturday 31st October 2020
FINAL ROUND
First part
10:00am extraction of the execution's order
10:15am n. 3 candidates (30 minutes each)
12:15 pm n. 2 candidates (30 minutes each)
Second part
05:00pm final and concert
07:00pm winners' announcement and awards
First prize: € 2.000 and diploma
Second prize: € 1.500 and diploma
Third prize: € 1.000 and diploma
Special prizes:
Best italian conductor special prize: € 500
“G. Abbà” special prize for the most young conductor admitted to the final: € 500
Final concert Audience prize: € 500
Other special awards could be expected later.
The jury of the competition will consist of 5 well-known artistic personalities (the names will be announced soon).
To join the competition, candidates must complete and send by 31st May, 2020 the application form available on the official website of Feniarco (www.feniarco.it).
Together with the personal data it is required an artistic curriculum vitae, a video featuring a candidate's conducting performance of a free choice's piece and the payment of the registration fee.
By June 30th, 2020, the list of candidates admitted to the competition will be announced by the Fosco Corti Committee consisting of 3 members representing respectively Feniarco, Associazione Cori Piemontesi, Conservatory of Music G. Verdi of Turin.
To enter the competition it is required to pay a registration fee (non-refundable) of € 50 to be paid by May 31st, 2020.
Candidates admitted must pay the participation fee according to the following table by 31 July 2020, under penalty of exclusion from the competition.
Country groups 1: AT, BE, CA, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, HK, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, LU, NL, NO, SE, SG, UK, US
Country groups 2: CN, CZ, EE, GR, MT, PT, SI, SK, TW, ZA and some overseas countries.
Country groups 3: AL, AM, BA, BG, BY, GE, HR, HU, KZ, LT, LV, MD, ME, MK, PL, RO, RS, RU, TR, UA.
| Application fees for the admitted participants | ECA-EC direct/indirect member | No member |
| Country group 1 | € 120 | € 180 |
| Country group 2 | € 100 | € 150 |
| Country group 3 | € 80 | € 120 |
The official language of the competition is English, in all rounds and contexts. Participation in the competition implies acceptance of the regulation in each of its articles. The jury's judgment and decisions are final and binding. The choirs will have good knowledge of the repertoire. Using the original pieces is the responsibility of the participants.