The preliminary rounds of the 58th Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors ended on Wednesday, May 3 in Montreal.
After deliberation, Yulia Kopylova (violin associate concertmaster) and Jacques Mercier (conductor), unveiled the list of the twenty selected for the final rounds:
- Mr. So AWATSUJI – Japanese, 34 years
- Mr. Mattia BORNATI – Italian, 27 years
- Mr. Hilo Tiago CARRIEL DA SILVA – Brazilian, 32 years
- Mr. Christian CASLEANU – German, 33 years
- Mr. Simon CLAUSSE – French, 22 years
- Mr. Daichi DEGUCHI – Japanese, 34 years
- Mr. Chao DONG – Chinese, 25 years
- Ms. Barbara DRAGAN – Polish, 34 years
- Mr. Zhongling FANG – Chinese, 26 years
- Ms. Lea Katharina FISCHER – German, 25 years
- Mr. Christopher GAUDREAULT – Canadian, 26 years
- Mr. Yuta KOBAYASHI – Japanese, 25 years
- Ms. Josephine KORDA – British, 26 years
- Mr. Gyuseo LEE – Korean, 29 years
- Mr. Hae LEE – Korean, 32 years
- Mr. Arturs Oskars MITREVICS – Latvian, 25 years
- Mr. Kyungmin PARK – Korean, 28 years
- Mr. Yu SUGIMOTO – Japanese, 32 years
- Mr. Patrick TUTTLE – German, 29 years
- Mr. Swann VAN RECHEM – French, 24 years
Discover each week the profile of a selected candidate.
Some figures
Out of nearly 300 registrations, 248 candidates attended the auditions.
Among the 20 selected candidates:
- 11 nationalities are represented
- 3 women were selected (two less than in 2021), in a slightly lower proportion of registrations (19%)
- 28 years old on average, with candidates from 22 to 34 years old
- 4 candidates were already present among the selected in 2021, one candidate was already present in 2019 and 2021.
The preliminary rounds of the 58th Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors took place live in Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, Besançon and finally Montreal.
The final rounds in September
The twenty candidates are expected in September in Besançon, for the final rounds with orchestra which will take place during the 76th edition of the International Music Festival.
They will conduct the Orchestre Victor Hugo during the first and second rounds of the Competition.
Only eight candidates will reach the semi-finals. During the Opera round, they will conduct the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne and the Orchestre Victor Hugo during the Concerto round.
Finally, a maximum of three candidates will have the privilege of conducting the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France for the Final on September 23, 2023.
The shortlisted candidates will be judged by a professional jury composed of seven personalities from the international music world.