The “Wandering Music Stars” Israel Music Festival, now in its second edition, and the third edition of the “Classic Winds International Saxophone and Clarinet Competition”, organized by the European Foundation for Support of Culture, will take place in Israel from March 1 – 5, 2020. Classic Winds showcases the talents, techniques, musical knowledge and expressive abilities of the young saxophonists and clarinetists. Concurrent with the competition, the Wandering Music Stars Festival will present a series of festive concerts in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Among the soloists to be featured: Shirley Brill, Daniel Lozakovich, Maxim Vengerov and Alexander Knyazev.
This past September, the 2019 Wandering Music Stars Israel Music Festival and Tel Aviv International Piano Competition took place at Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann Mehta School of Music, initiated by cellist and conductor Maestro Dmitry Yablonsky, the festival’s Artistic Director. Over 40 pianists from around the world arrived in Tel Aviv to participate in this first edition of the Israeli competition, produced by the Buchman Mehta School of Music in cooperation with the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EFSC). Following upon this success, Israel will host the third edition of the Saxophone/Clarinet competition. Preliminary rounds will be held at the Buchmann Mehta School of Music, from March 1-4, with the final round taking place at the Smolarz Auditorium at Tel Aviv University on March 5th.
Accompanying the competition will be a series of five concerts. The first concert – Clarinet Concerto and Orchestra – will take place at the Jerusalem Theater on March 1, 2020, at 20:00, with Armenian conductor Sergey Smbatyan conducting the Jerusalem Symphony, and featuring clarinetist Shirley Brill. The concert program will include: Alexey Shor’s The Overture to the Crystal Palace Ballet and a world premiere of a clarinet and orchestra concerto, as well as Luigi Bassi’s Fantasia on motifs from Verdi’s Rigoletto for clarinet and orchestra, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Opus 90 (“Italian”).
The international panel of judges includes: Andreas Ottensamer – the principal clarinetist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra; Arno Bornkamp – saxophonist and well known teacher from Amsterdam; Margarita Shaposhnikova – Professor of Music at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow and founder of the saxophone school; Shirley Brill – solo clarinetist and Professor of Music in Berlin; Michelle Like – a prominent clarinet player, teacher at the Paris Conservatory and Director of the Pablo Casals Festival in Pardes; Alain Crepin – Professor of Saxophone at the Brussels Academy, appears as a soloist, conductor and director of the international saxophone competition in Belgium; Dragan Sremec – saxophone teacher at the Zagreb Music Academy, Croatia and founder of the Zagreb Saxophone Quartet; Euston Sans – Professor of Clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music in Madrid and a clarinet player specializing in ancient and contemporary music; Vitaly Katkov – Vice Rector for concert activities at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Several prizes will be awarded at the competition: a first prize of 10,000 Euros, a second prize of 5,000 Euros, and a third prize of 3,000 Euros. In addition, a special prize of 2,000 Euros will be awarded as the “Verdiana” award for the best performance of the compulsory creation in the competition, “Verdiana” by Alexey Shor, the competition’s composer.
The festive concerts accompanying the competition will take place on the following dates:
First concert – March 1, 2020 at the Jerusalem Theater, Henry Crown Hall, 20:00. Ticket prices range from 104 – 154 NIS, and may be ordered online from the Bimot website or call: *6226
Second concert – March 2, 2020 at the Jerusalem Theater, Henry Crown Hall, 20:00. Maestro Dmitry Yablonsky will conduct the Armenian National Symphony Orchestra. Ticket prices range from 104 – 154 NIS, and may be ordered online from the Bimot website or call: *6226
Third concert – March 3, 2020 at Heichal HaTarbut, Tel Aviv, 20:30. Maestro Sergey Smbatyan will conduct the Armenian National Symphony Orchestra. Ticket prices range from 114 – 284 NIS, and may be ordered online from the Eventim website, or call *9066.
Fourth concert – March 4, 2020 at Heichal HaTarbut, Tel Aviv, 20:30. Maestro Dmitry Yablonsky will conduct the Armenian National Chamber Orchestra. Ticket prices range from 114 – 284 NIS, and may be ordered online from the Eventim website, or call *9066.
Fifth concert – The festive closing concert of the competition will take place on March 5, 2020 at the Smolarsz Auditorium, Tel Aviv University Campus, 19:00. Maestro Dmitry Yablonsky will conduct, and the winners will be announced at the end of the concert. Ticket sales will open in the near future.
