The Golden Baton Emmerich Kálmán International Operetta-Musical Conducting Competition follows the success of the Lehár Ferenc International Operatta Singing Competition and the Lévay Szilveszter International Musical Singing Competition.
The contest is open to conductors born after January 1, 1973.
The contest?s special partner is the Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA), the theatre?s press chief Rita Lencsó said.
Qualification rounds for the contest will be held in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Graz, Munich, Dresden, Prague, Bratislava and Cluj, as well as in cities in China, Japan, Australia and Israel. The Hungarian qualifier will be held in Imre Kálmán?s birthplace, Siófok, in early September.
The semi-finals will be held at the Budapest Operetta Theatre on September 21 and 22. They will be recorded for broadcast on public television. The finals will be held at the same location on October 27, the Day of Hungarian Operetta and the 130th anniversary of Imre Kálmán?s birth.
The application deadline for the competition is August 15. A five-member international jury will asses the competitors. The first prize comes with a cash purse of 6,000 euro, the second prize 3,000 euro and the third prize 2,000 euro. The audience award comes with 1,000 euro.
The conducting competition was first held in 2007, the 125th anniversary of Kálmán?s birth. It attracted 26 conductors from 11 countries, the winner was Márton Rácz from Hungary, a special jury award went to Sadaru Muramacut from Japan and the audience award went to Ksenya Yarko from Russia.
Application forms can be downloaded at http://www.kalmanconductingcomp.com/
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
