To: Arts/Culture/Features Editor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE10 January 2018
Press Release
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Semi-Finalists revealed for
the 1st Hong Kong International Conducting Competition
The 1st Hong Kong International Conducting Competitionhas concluded Round 1 todayand is pleased to announce its semi-finalists.
Out of the 16 candidates from Round 1, the 8 candidates who will compete in Round 2 are:
Paolo BORTOLAMEOLLI (Chile/Italy│age: 35)
Marta GARDOLIŃSKA (Poland│age: 29)
Antoine GLATARD(France│age: 33)
Victor JACOB (France│age: 26)
Gabor KALI(Hungary│age: 35)
Corinna NIEMEYER (Germany│age: 31)
Dawid RUNTZ (Poland│age: 25)
James SHERLOCK (United Kingdom /Ireland│age: 34)
Round 2 will be held acorss two days from 11 January to 12 January 2018 at Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, with a repertoire that includes works by Bartók, Chopin and Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann. The first day will see the semi-finalists conducting Bartók’s Divertimento and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 2 (2nd movement), featuring Hong Kongstar pianist Colleen Lee, with Beethoven’s Symphony No 5, Brahms’ Symphony No 3 and Schumann’s Symphony No 1, “Spring” on the second day.
For audience members who are not able to attend the competition, they can go to watch the livestreaming. The feed will be broadcast throughout the competition. Audience members can also go to from now till 14 January, 5:15pm (HK Time) to vote for their favourite conductor. The candidate who gains the largest number of votes will be presented with the Audience Prize.
Music Director of Hong Kong SinfoniettaYip Wing-sie and Principal Guest Conductor Christoph Poppen will be co-chairs of the competition. A diverse and international panel consisting of various renowned professionals in the field, Director and Professor in Conducting, Panula Academy JormaPanula, Conductor of Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Executive & Artistic Director designee of National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Taiwan Chien Wen-pin, Director of Askonsas Holt Gaetan Le Divelec, Chief Executive of Scottish Chamber Orchestra Gavin Reid and Principal Tuba of Hong Kong SinfoniettaLam Wing-tsan, further make up members of the jury panel.
Presented by Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the 1st Hong Kong International Conducting Competitionis being held in theHong Kong City Hall Concert Hall from 10 Januarytill 14 January 2018. Comprising of three rounds, 16 chosen candidates were chosen to conduct the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and compete in the Competition for five prizes.
The repertoire of the competition includes works by Beethoven, Rossini, Brahms, Schumann and more. The finalists will conduct a new work,November Leonids, composed byHKS Artist Associate, Chan Hing-yan. An invitation will be extended to the candidates to make a short presentation to the audience in the Finals.
Hong Kong Sinfonietta is presenting the 1st Hong Kong International Competition with the aim of providing a platform for young conductors under the age of 35 to establish an international network in Asia.Chosen from 310 applications from 49 countries/regions, the 16 candidates hail from Austria, Chile, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The prizes
1stPrize / HK$150,000 + concert engagement with Hong Kong Sinfoniettaand apprenticeship possibilities with Christoph Poppen and Chien Wen-pin in Germany/Taiwan2ndPrize / HK$80,000
3rdPrize / HK$50,000
Audience Prize / HK$10,000
Orchestra Prize / HK$10,000
10 January 2018: Round 1
10am-4:30pm $100
- Beethoven: Egmont Overture, Op 84
- One of the following overtures:
Weber: Der Freischütz Overture
Rossini: The Barber of Seville Overture
11 January 2018: Round 2 – Semi-Finals (Day 1)(a maximum of 8 semi-finalists)
10am-5pm $100
12 January 2018: Round 2 – Semi-Finals (Day 2)
10am-4:30pm $100
- Bartók: Divertimento
- Chopin: Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor, Op 21: II Larghetto(Soloist: Colleen Lee)
- One of the following symphonies:
Beethoven: Symphony No 5 in C minor, Op 67
Brahms: Symphony No 3 in F, Op 90
Schumann: Symphony No 1 in B-flat, Op 38, “Spring”
14 January 2018: Round 3 – Finals (a maximum of 3 finalists)
1:30pm – 6:30pm $200
- Chan Hing-yan (HKS Artist Associate): commissioned workNovember Leonidsfor Orchestra
- One of the following symphonies:
Beethoven: Symphony No 5 in C minor, Op 67
Brahms: Symphony No 3 in F, Op 90
Schumann: Symphony No 1 in B-flat, Op 38, “Spring”
- The finalists will be invited to make a short presentation to the audience.
Venue: Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall
Tickets at URBTIX
Ticketing Enquiries & Booking: 2111 5999
URBTIX Internet Ticketing Service:
For more information, please visit:
Hong Kong Sinfonietta is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Hong Kong Sinfonietta is the Venue Partner of the Hong Kong City Hall
With support from:
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Biographies of the Semi-finalists
Paolo BORTOLAMEOLLI | Chile/Italy | Born 1982
Currently serving as Associate Conductor for Los Angeles Philharmonic and recently appointed in 2017 as Guest Conductor in Residence to YAO Orchestra of the Americas, Bortolameolli was formerly trained at the Yale School of Music and Peabody Institute. A Dudamel Fellow for Los Angeles Philharmonic in its 2016/2017 season, Principal Conductor of New Haven Chamber Orchestra in 2012/2013 and Cover Conductor for renowned conductor Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2014/2015, Bortolameolli has won the Best Opera Conductor Award in 2016 and Chilean Critics Association’s Special Award in 2013. He was also named as one of Chile’s “100 Young Leaders of the Country” in 2007.
Marta GARDOLIŃSKA | Poland | Born 1988
A current Associate Fellow of the Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship, Gardolińska has conducted the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna, Polish Baltic Frédéric Chopin Philharmonic and Vienna’s Johann-Strauss-Operette. A 3rd prize and Orchestra Prize winner of the Felix Mendelssohn International Conducting Competition in 2016 and Orchestra Prize winner of WitoldLutosławski International Competition for Young Conductors 2016, Gardolińska serves as Principal Conductor of Vienna’s TU Orchestra. She is also a graduate of the prestigious Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Antoine GLATARD | France | Born 1984
Not only acting as a conductor, but also a musician and composer who graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Glatard has made appearances at theLa Bohème at Verbier Festival and OrchestreSymphonie de Mulhouse at Musicales de Colmar Festival. A 2nd prize winner of International Conducting Competition Jeunesses Musicales Bucharest in 2013 and a recent 3rdPrize winner of the 2017The Polycarpe Foundation Competition – The International Opera Conductors Competition, Glatard has been serving as Music Director to Orchestre des Jeunes de l’Orchestre National de Lyon since 2015. His previous appointments include being Assistant Conductor toThéâtre Royal de la Monnaie in its 2014/2015 season, Resident Conductor/Assistant to Leonard Slatkin, Orchestre National de Lyon in its 2015/2016 season and Young Associate Conductor to Opéra de Rouen Normandiein its 2016/2017 season.
Victor JACOB | France | Born 1991
Currently studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Jacob was a graduate of from l’Université Paris-Sorbonne and the Royal Academy of Music in London. A co-founder of Ensemble NouvellesPortées, he has been serving as Assistant Conductor to La Maîtrise de Radio France since 2015. Jacob’s recent highlights include assistantships with Nathalie Stutzmann of Tannhäuser at Opéra Monte-Carlo and Paolo Arrivabeni of Aïda at Chorégiesd’Orange with Orchestre National de France.
Gabor KALI | Hungary | Born 1982
A pianist by training from BartókBélaKonservatorium Budapest, Kali went on to study conducting at Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest and Berlin University of the Arts. A Special Prize winner of National Chamber Music Competition of Hungarian Conservatories and 3rdPrize winner of the Piano Competition of Hungarian Conservatories in 1998, Kali has been serving as Assistant Music Director and Principal Conductor to StaatstheaterNürnbergsince 2015. His guest appearances include conducting the Hungarian State Opera Budapest, Stuttgart Philharmonic andBohuslavMartinů Philharmonic Orchestra with future assistantships toIván Fischer at Konzerthausorchester Berlin and to Christian Thielemann in 2018.
Corinna NIEMEYER | Germany | Born 1986
Having studied at the Conservatories of Music in Karlsruhe, Munich and Shanghai and Zurich University of the Arts, Niemeyer has been serving as Music Director of l‘OrchestreUniversitaire de Strasbourg since 2010 and Chief Conductor of Paris’ l’Orchestre Sorbonne Universités since 2016. With assistantships that includeIván Fischer at Konzerthausorchester Berlin and François-Xavier Roth at the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra and Cologne Opera, she has made guest conducting appearances with Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne, OrchestrePhilharmonique de Strasbourg, Sinfonieorchester Bern, Osaka Philharmonic, Cologne Opera and Theater Augsburg as well. Prizes won have included a 2ndPrize at Talents Adami Chefs d’Orchestre 2014 in Paris and a 3rd Prize at Tokyo International Conducting Competition in 2015.
Dawid RUNTZ | Poland | Born 1992
Assistant Conductor of Grand Theatre-National Opera Warsaw since its 2014/2015 season and to Krzysztof Penderecki from its 2017/2018 season, Runtz was a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. His professional conducting highlights include appearances at the 2017 Pacific Music Festival, début with the Warsaw Philharmonic in 2016 and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2015. A 2nd and Special Prize winner of the 2013 Adam Kopyciński National Competition for Conducting Students in Wrocław and a 2ndPrize Winner of the 2016 WitoldLutosławski International Competition for Young Conductors, he was assistant toRiccardo Muti at his Italian Opera Academy in Ravenna in 2016. In addition to conducting, Runtz is a composer – he was the 1stPrize winner at Warsaw’s Nationwide Competition for Young Composers in 2010 and a prizewinner of the International Young Composers Competition “Euritmia” in Italy in 2011.
James SHERLOCK | United Kingdom/Ireland| Born 1983
Currently pursuing studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Sherlock is a professional keyboard player who had studied the piano, voice coaching and musicology at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama at Cambridge University (Trinity College), the Georg Solti Accademia and the Franz Schubert Institut. A Guest Principal Keyboard with the London Symphony Orchestra since 2010 and London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008, Sherlock was an Accompanist Prize winner at the 2014 Royal Over-Seas League Piano Competition and a Pianist prize-winner at the Das Lied International Song Competition in 2015. As a pianist, he has performed in prestigious venues that had included the Berlin Philharmonie, Barbican, Wigmore and Carnegie Hall, collaborating with renowned singers such as Felicity Lott, Thomas Allen and Sarah Connolly. In the 2016/2017 season, he made his professional conducting début with the English Chamber Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra.
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Senior Marketing DevelopmentManager, Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Amanda Mok
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