Queen Elisabeth Music Competition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

The Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, a founder member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (1957) has been, since its foundation, considered the world over to be one of the most prestigious, but also one of the most difficult in existence. It is devoted to violin (since 1951), piano (since 1952), to composition (since 1953) and to singing (since 1988). It is named after Queen Elizabeth of Belgium.

Contents

[edit] History

Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian concert-violinist, had wanted to set up an international music competition for young virtuosi showcasing their all-round skill, but died before he could do so. Queen Elisabeth, patroness of the arts and good friend of Ysaÿe, set up the competition in his memory in 1937. The prestige of Ysaÿe and Belgium's Royal Court (King Albert and Queen Elisabeth admired heroes of the First World War) assured that the first competition would draw great entrants.

The Soviet school was the resounding winner in 1937: the great David Oistrakh won first prize without the slightest discussion. In 1938, the competition was dedicated to piano; Emile Guilels won, and again, the Soviet school was victorious.

The competition did not resume until 1951; World War II and several royal scandals prevented the competition from taking place. In 1951, the competition was renamed for its patroness, Queen Elisabeth, and has taken place under that name since then.

Entrants are expected to learn a compulsory work written especially for the competition. (The work is picked during the composition competition.) Usually there is also a section where contestants are expected to perform a work by a Belgian composer.

[edit] Patronage

The Queen Elisabeth Competition generates income from its own activities, from private patronage and from sponsoring. Resources are varied: part of the funding for the prizes laureates receive is provided by public authorities and patrons, corporate sponsors, donors contributions, ticket and programme sales, advertising in the programmes and the sale of recordings. The Competition also benefits from the volunteer assistance of families who open their homes to candidates for the duration of the competition.

[edit] Winners: Piano

[edit] Winners: Violin

[edit] Prizes

First Prize: INTERNATIONAL QUEEN ELISABETH GRAND PRIZE HM Queen Fabiola Prize 20,000 euro - numerous concerts - recording on CD

Second Prize: BELGIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRIZE 17,500 euro - concerts - recording on CD

Third Prize: COUNT DE LAUNOIT PRIZE 15,000 euro - concerts

Fourth Prize: PRIZE AWARDED ALTERNATELY BY EACH OF THE COMMUNITIES OF BELGIUM 10,000 euro - concerts

Fifth Prize: BRUSSELS CAPITAL REGION PRIZE 8,000 euro - concerts

Sixth Prize: CITY OF BRUSSELS PRIZE 7,000 euro - concerts

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../q/u/e/Queen_Elisabeth_Music_Competition_492a.html"