Klarinet Archive - Posting 000291.txt from 2005/06

From: "Bryan Crumpler" <crumpletox@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] RE: Clarinet Competitions and Unaccompanied Solo Clarinet Pieces
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 14:53:54 -0400

From: Peter Mika <pmika@-----.edu>
I was wondering if anyone had a comprehensive list of clarinet
competitions as well as a list of great unaccompanied solo clarinet
pieces?

-------------

Hi Peter et al,

The clarinet competitions that I know of that I've kept an eye on are:

Boosey & Hawkes North American Clarinet Competition (not sure how often this
is held)
International Clarinet Association (of course) - next in summer 2006
Nielsen Clarinet International Competition (denmark) - next in summer 2009
ARD Munich International Competition (germany) - next in fall 2007
Citti de Chieri International Clarinet Competition (italy) - next in fall
2005
Markneukirchen International Clarinet Competition (germany) - next in spring
2006
Audi Mozart International Clarinet Competition (italy) - next in spring 2006
Dos Hermanas International Clarinet Competition (spain) - next in fall 2006
Prague Spring Music Festival Clarinet Competition (czech rep) - next in ???
Francaix International Clarinet Competition (france) - next in ???
Allegro Clarinet Competition (spain) - next in ???
Citta di Carlino Clarinet Competition (spain) - next in ???
Jeunesses Musicales Bucharest International Clarinet Competition (romania) -
next in
International Clarinet Competition Paris-Ville d'Avray - next in ???
History of Japan Clarinet Competition - next in ???
Howarth Clarinet Competition - next in ???
Kurpiñski International Clarinet Competition (poland) - next in ???
Aleksander Tansman International Competition of Musical Personalities
(poland) - next in ???
Young Concert Artists International Auditions - next in 2008 for clarinet I
think - whenever Jose Ballester's contract expires (usu. after 3 years)

My list "Young Artist Competitions" inclusive of other instruments as
competitors is probably even longer... some I've forgotten about completely
considering 25 (my age) is already out of the age range, so I'll just
mention the ones I know of the top of my head.

Houston Symphony's Ima Hogg Young Artists competition - next in 2006
William C. Byrd International Young Artists Competition for Winds & Brass
(Flint, MI) - next in 2009
New Amsterdam Symphony National Young Artist Competition (new york) - next
in ???
East West Artists International Auditions for Carnegie Hall Debut (new york)
- next in ???
Astral Artistic Services (philly) - next in 2006
Haverhill Sinfonia International Young Artist Competition (england) - next
in fall 2005
Sinfonia Toronto Bi-annual Concerto Competition (canada) - next in spring
2007
MTNA Young Artist Competition - next in 2005
Concert Artists Guild International Auditions - next in fall 2005
Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition - next in ???
Kingsville International Young Performers Competition - next in 2006
International Sorantin Award Competition - next in fall 2005
Guademas Interpreters Competition (holland) - next in ???
Hellam National Young Artist Competition - next in ???
Pottstown Symphony National Young Artist Competition - next in ???
Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra National Young Artist Competition - next in
???

Others tend to appear on musicalchairs from time to time:
http://www.musicalchairs.info/Competitions%20English.htm

As for unaccompanied solo pieces, most of the ones already mentioned are
good ones to look into, but the ones I've encountered multiple times on
required rep lists are:

Stravinsky - Three Pieces (definitely)
Denisov - Sonate
Carter - Gra
Martino - Set
Berio - Sequenza
Ran - For an Actor

Others that I have prepared for competitions are on my rep list at
http://www.whosthatguy.com/clarinet-repertoire.asp - and they are all "good"
in my opinion. They're interesting pieces to play, and accessable to the
audience - at least when played well.

THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR IN COMPETITIONS:
In general, there are a few you really have to be careful about. I've been
on the competition circuit for a number of years now and tend to see the
same people everywhere I go, so it's good for getting feedback about
particular competitions... their tendencies etc.

For example several major international competitions seem to be more
political than based on the performance itself. I'd have to check the World
Federation's winners database, but - I would not be surprised if most (if
not all) of the winners in the history of Munich or Nielsen for example have
been students of a jury member... That's not to slight the winners of their
achievement, because certainly they have a very distinguished talent. But
it's not unheard of for people to pass prelimb rounds or win competitions
who don't exactly play up to par particularly because the jury already has
"experience" with their playing (an advantage "unknowns" don't have).

Perfect example is Queen Elizabeth this year, which had a rather disasterous
finale - Shostakovich was probably rolling in his grave. Although... I do
have to say, Sergey Khachatryan was a clear musical personality above the
rest of the finalists regardless of how superfast his wiggly vibrato was.

It's also not unheard of for competition organizers to already know who they
want to win (i.e. allow competitors to bypass preliminary rounds because of
personal invitation from a member of the board or whatever) and then they
take advantage of the prestige of the competition to bring in lumps of
application fee money from the hundreds of applicants. This has been the
chatter on the circuit for years for the YCA International Auditions in New
York. I know many professional orchestras do something like this all the
time, not necessarily for application fee money, but to get the candidate
they "know" and are happy with (as well as satisfy union reps that they held
open auditions).

Some competitions, like the Kingsville Competitions and the Jeunesses
Musicales in Romania tend to offer an amazing amount of prizes to attract a
large number of competitors, but the competition itself is cheaply and
horribly organized. I know in Kingsville, for example, we had to perform in
a carpeted band room rehearsal space that was super cold, with ZERO acoustic
properties. The jury (of two I might add) was seated at a fold-out table
about 10 feet in front of us. The windows were open while bulldozers were
doing construction outside. The frequent hillbilly motorcyclists riding
around the lot did wonders for everyone's concentration, I'm sure.

Some competitions don't even offer enough rehearsal time with the staff
accompanists -- someone mentioned they only offered 15 minutes with the
pianists in Romania - or maybe that was Dos Hermanas - can't remember. It's
ideal, of course, to bring your own... but sometimes (of course) that's not
always financially possible.

In any case, I've been involved in these things enough to know that
competitions that are serious will take into account that acoustical
properties of the audition hall are of concert hall quality and they will do
everything they can to keep competitors relaxed and not stressed (e.g.
provide food, water, towels for those who sweat, *guaranteed* warm-up space,
runners/guides, ample rehearsal time with staff accompanists and in some
cases - travel allowances and local accomodations). So be informed (call
ahead of time) to see what the organization is like before investing your
money in a trip halfway across the country.

Competitions that set the example are those like Ima Hogg in Houston which
is fantastically organized, AND puts all its candidates in a luxury hotel
suite for up to an entire week. Fort Collins even covers travel for their
competitors to the audition site. Nielsen and Munich speak for themselves --
even if you have to wait half a decade to get to them.

The good competitions will also offer ample time for preparation and
adjusting to staff accompanists who will almost certainly distract you if
they aren't quite up to speed with what you are doing musically (tempos,
tempo changes, rubatos, etc etc etc) - all things that you can't really
settle in 30 mins if it's a concerto like Copland, Finzi, or Nielsen where
constant interaction with the accompaniment is of extreme importance to what
the soloist is doing - unlike Weber or Mozart which are rather easy concerti
to throw together with little rehearsal time.

Be wary of competitions with 1 jury member... there are no checks in
balances that way, especially when there is bias. I have first hand
experience with a competition in particular where sexual bias was involved
and an alterior sexual interest was manifested to the winner thereafter.

Some competitions tend to favor little kids who play well *for their age* -
even if they don't have the control or mature enough sound to really stand
out if you threw them behind a screen. I generally check the list of
laureates and research past winners to see what they've gone on to do with
their careers. And in the competition rules, I generally look for a clause
that gives a clear set of evaluation criteria.

So anyway... it's a lot of of text. I didn't intend to write all of this,
but... it's good info to know for anyone diving into the competition world.

HTH,
Bryan

http://www.whosthatguy.com

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