54 young artists from 3 continents will take part in the Concertino Praga 2020 competition

The final round will take place in the format of a public concert held at the Rudolfinum on 12.9.2020 as part of the Dvořák Prague Festival.

Thanks to the cooperation between Czech Radio and the Academy of Classical Music, Concertino Praga 2020 will now bear the subtitle of the Antonín Dvořák International Radio Competition for Young Musicians for the first time. This multifaceted competition, whose mission is to look for exceptional talents aged under 15 or 16 years of age, combines the original radio vision based on the assessment of the sent recordings with a public concert.  “I am very pleased that the change in the competition format and its inclusion in the program of the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival has led to significantly increased interest among young musicians in this musical competition. The combination of Czech Radio’s traditional values with our perspective clearly makes sense for the future of Concertino Praga,“ said the intendant at the Academy of Classical Music, Jan Simon.

The Production Manager at Czech Radio, Kateřina Konopásková, added: “We are pleased that the radio aspect of our competition has been preserved. The jury assesses anonymous recordings in the first and second rounds, which helps our young artists avoid some nervous moments. At the same time, we also acquire valuable recordings by the future stars of classic music; Czech Radio broadcasts the competition recordings on its Czech Radio Vltava station.”

The competitors will be assessed in every round by a jury consisting of leading instrumental soloists, conductors, music teachers and representatives of the European Broadcasting Union. The jury in the first round consisting of Evert van Berkel (Sveriges Radio, EBU, Sweden), Anna Fusek (flute, violin, Germany), Milan Langer (piano, Czech Republic), František Novotný (violin, Czech Republic), Vít Petrášek (cello, Czech Republic), Milan Puklický (music director, Czech Republic) and Irvin Venyš (clarinet, Czech Republic) will sit from 17^th to 19^th February.

The 25 best recordings will then progress to the second round, regardless of the instrument. Milán Bolla (MTVA, EBU, Hungary), Jana Brožková (oboe, Czech Republic), Ian Fountain (piano, Great Britain), Irena Jakubcová (violin, Czech Republic), Kateřina Javůrková (French horn, Czech Republic) and Jens Peter Maintz (cello, Germany) will assess these recordings in the second round on 22^nd and 23^rd April and will select the four participants in the public final. 

While the first two rounds remain anonymous and without the direct participation of the competitors, the third round will take place at the Rudolfinum on 12^th September 2020 as part of the program for the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival. The finalists will be accompanied by the Prague Radio Symphonic Orchestra under the baton of Jiří Rožeň. Their performances will be evaluated by Walter Auer (flute, Czech Republic), Jana Boušková (harp, Czech Republic), David Geringas (cello, Germany, Lithuania), Augustin Hadelich (violin, USA), Jakub Hrůša (conductor, Czech Republic), Francois Leleux (oboe, conductor, France), Thibaut Maillard (R.T.S., EBU, Switzerland), David Mareček (piano, CEO Czech Philharmonic, Czech Republic), Tomáš Netopil (conductor, Czech Republic), Daniel Ottensammer (clarinet, Austria), Maxim Vengerov (violin, Israel) anc Lukáš Vondráček (piano, Czech Republic). The competition’s mission is not only to discover young talents, but also to support them as they progress in their musical education and develop their musical careers. Therefore, the winners will receive study grants of up to 5000 EUR and the winner will be given the opportunity to make a professional radio recording at Czech Radio. All of the finalists will perform along with other selected participants at the traditional Concertino Praga Festival in South Bohemia.

54 competitors from Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Ukraine and USA have sent in their recordings for the 54^th year of the competition and a total of 12 instruments are represented - accordion, bassoon, flute, oboe, violin, clarinet, piano, horn, saxophone, trombone, trumpet and cello.