European Union of Music Competitions for Youth

The European Union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY) is a European umbrella organisation for some fifty national and international music competitions for young people. Founded in the 1960s as a non-profit organisation in order to develop the musical education of young Europeans, EMCY arranges concerts (with and without orchestra), broadcasts, tours, award ceremonies, master classes and courses for outstanding competition prize winners throughout Europe.

Every year, thousands of musicians under the age of twenty-five take part in EMCY competitions, and its projects with the European Broadcasting Union reach audiences across Europe. EMCY is a registered association under German law with an elected international board of five representatives, headed since 2008 by chairman Frank Reich. Its registered office is in Munich, Germany. In 2010 EMCY celebrated its 40th birthday at the General Assembly in Heerlen, Netherlands.

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EMCY Board

The EMCY Board is elected every four years at the General Assembly. Current members are:

EMCY Office

The EMCY Office is hosted by Jugend musiziert, the German National Competition organised by the German Music Council in Munich, Germany. It is run by Claire Goddard, Secretary General of EMCY.

General Assembly

The EMCY General Assembly gathers, in general, every two years in a different European country at the invitation of an EMCY Member Competition. The next one will be held in Ohrid (Netherlands) in 2012, hosted by the International Competition for Young Musicians 'Ohrid Pearls'.

Recent General Assemblies have been held in:

Member competitions

National Competitions

Participation in these competitions is usually reserved for nationals or residents of the respective country. This often includes schools abroad, students at conservatoires or ex-patriates, however.

International Competitions

These competitions are open to participants from all over the world. Many include categories which change every year.

Projects

EMCY works to help as many prize winners as possible in their musical and personal development. Performance and training opportunities throughout Europe are arranged by EMCY, together with its member competitions and partners. These concerts, tours, workshops, and master classes are international meeting points for young musicians and are for many an important launch pad for their musical careers.

EMCY also holds conferences for competition organisers (most recently in Barcelona in 2009, St. Petersburg in June 2011) and music educators on particular themes to enable them to come together, learn from each other and develop new bi- and multilateral cooperation projects.

See also

External links