Record registrations for the 13th edition of the “Guido Cantelli” international conducting prize in Novara. And great participation also for the call dedicated to composers.
Above the jurors of this edition
Cantelli Award: record number of entries
The first numbers of the event organized by the Carlo Coccia Theater Foundation of Novara in collaboration with the City of Novara, the Milan Symphony Orchestra and the University of Eastern Piedmont, with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture, with the patronage of the Piedmont Region, Promotion Agency have been announced Local Tourist Board of the Province of Novara, with the support of the Banca Popolare di Novara Foundation.
They have arrived 241 applications from young conductors from all over the worldaspiring candidates, aged between 18 and 35, ready to take up the legacy of the Novara orchestra director Guido Cantelli.
«A success – they explain from the theater – which places the Cantelli Prize among the most authoritative competitions dedicated to orchestral conducting, with a prize pool that exceeds 25,000 euros in total, with six different juries and a final, scheduled for 6 October at the Theater Coccia di Novara, open to the public. Applications were received from all five continents: from Argentina to New Zealand, from the United States to Japan, from Brazil and Chile to the Republic of Korea and Singapore. But also from African countries such as Morocco and South Africa; as regards Europe, there are candidates from Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and from nations currently at the center of the international geopolitical crisis such as Palestine, Iran, Israel, Russia and Ukraine.
In total they will be 44 nationalities represented in this first phase which will lead to the selection of 18 candidates who will access the semi-finals hosted from 3 to 5 October in the Fondazione Cariplo Auditorium in Milan”.
The call addressed to composers was also successful
The numbers of the call addressed to composers of all ages and nationalities also shine: the second edition has already collected more than double the applications received in 2022.
As desired by the director of Coccia, Corinne Baronithe award has a dual objective: to bring out young talents but also to give space to new music, in harmony with Cantelli’s interest in new compositions.
«There are 67 scores sent and, also in this case, from different countries such as Canada, Sweden, Guatemala, Portugal as well as Italy, Spain and Poland. One will be chosen and will be performed during the final stages of the Cantelli Prize: the candidates are thus asked to compete with a contemporary score.
The brilliant results of the registration phase combine with the excellent news that has arrived in recent weeks regarding the prize. The Ministry of Culture included it in the 90 Special Projects for Musical Activities 2024, among the 340 applications received from all over Italy, attributing a specific contribution of approximately 17,000 euros. This special contribution is a further demonstration of the attested artistic and design quality of the award and a sign of national and international interest.”
