Moscow hosts the First International Conducting Competition

Read the original article in Russian on the Music Seasons portal

Written by Victor Alexandrov
Translated by Seraphim Hanisch

The Capital Symphony Orchestra is the founder of this musical competition

The First International Conducting Competition was held from November 10, 2024 to January 12, 2025, at the Church of the Triumph of Orthodoxy at Altufyevo in Moscow, Russia.

This is a forum where conducting students compete with one another and refine their skills in conducting symphony orchestras.

The primary goals of this new competition are to preserve and develop traditions in the art of symphonic conducting and orchestral performance, to help young talents to achieve high professional skills in conducting and working with orchestra, to improve creative approaches for practicing conductors, and to strengthen creative ties within the international music community.

The Competition’s international jury was chaired by Alexey Rudnevsky, Dean of the Faculty of Symphonic and Choral Conducting at the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory, and it included professors from the USA, Bosnia, Serbia, Portugal, Uzbekistan and Russia.

The Organizing Committee of the First International Competition announced the following awards:
Maxim Soloviev was awarded First Prize and the title of Laureate. Georgy Cherkashin won Second Prize and the title Laureate. Evgeny Rubtsov took Third Prize, receiving the title of Laureate as well.

A concert featuring these Competition laureates is scheduled to take place in the Atrium of the Alexandr S. Pushkin Literary Museum in the spring of 2025.
The winners will take the podium of the Capital Symphony Orchestra and conduct the entire program - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 40 and Franz Schubert's Fifth Symphony.

The First International Conducting Competition will be held once a year in the future. The search for and support of young gifted musicians is among the main priorities of the competition. Young practicing conductors can work together with the Capital Symphony Orchestra.

Vladimir Gorbik is the founder, artistic director and chief conductor of the Capital Symphony Orchestra. He is a Grammy nominee, a member of the Board of the International Union of Musicians, and an associate professor of the Faculty of Symphonic and Choral Conducting at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory.
Maestro Gorbik notes the need for this project in Moscow, which will serve as a stimulus to strengthen friendship and partnership between musicians from different nations:
“The charitable side of the creative life of our orchestra is not only about the young musicians, but also about young people in general. Familiarizing young people with masterpieces of world musical classics is essential for the future of Russia. Our idea is to expand the Capital Symphony Orchestra and create many branches in both the East and West. This includes the Music of the Continents brand in order to familiarize people as widely as possible with the works of Russian composers, including those from the CIS countries - works by Avet Terteryan and Giya Kancheli. Here I am referring to the expansion of the Eastern world; that is, we are not limited to Russia. In general, my credo is that all the antagonisms that exist between the Eastern and Western worlds should be resolved in time, with God's help, so that we do not follow the path of confrontation, but follow the path of reconciliation”.