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Masterprize
Tel: +44 (0)20 7233 0111 Masterprize site designed by Room101 Ltd |
THE THRILL OF THE NEW
MASTERPRIZE LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE EDUCATION SCHEME
MASTERPRIZE, THE WORLD’s LEADING INTERNATIONAL COMPOSING COMPETITION, ANNOUNCES A GROUND-BREAKING NATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CBSO, RLPO, LSO AND NAYO
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
27th March 2003 |
Masterprize, the leading international competition for composition, announces that the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Association of Youth Orchestras join the London Symphony Orchestra as partners in one of the most ambitious music education schemes ever launched in the UK.
The Background
Masterprize, the premier international competition for the composition of works for symphony orchestra, aims to encourage classical music enthusiasts to listen more to new music and to help living composers find a large international audience. Its partners are Classic FM, EMI, Gramophone, the London Symphony Orchestra, and National Public Radio of the US. Masterprize, which was launched in 1996 is widely regarded as having played a significant role as a catalyst in bringing composers and listeners closer together.
Attitudes for or against types of music can form early, and Masterprize found that in the UK, with the exception of special commissions, many youth orchestras - collectively comprising many of the most musically committed of the upcoming generation - rarely perform music by living composers. The reasons can be both aesthetic - past experiments have not always proved musically satisfactory - and financial; the high costs of hiring copyright music, especially large sets of parts over an extended period of time, can be prohibitive in how youth orchestras select repertoire. Keen to try to do something about this situation, in 2001 Masterprize introduced an innovative education programme (The Masterprize Dearfield Education Programme) that involved youth orchestras performing the finalist pieces of the competition.
The exciting scheme reached out to over five hundred talented young musicians in seven of the UK's leading youth orchestras. Within months the youth orchestra members involved were transformed from wary sceptics to literally screaming enthusiasts when they attended the Masterprize Gala Final at the Barbican Hall in October last year.
This programme, which incorporated contributions from the London Symphony Orchestra and EMI, included workshop performances of Masterprize finalist pieces, a special seminar at the Barbican and an award for the best performances selected by Vladimir Ashkenazy and presented by Sir Colin Davis. This innovative programme was hugely successful in overcoming preconceptions about contemporary music and demonstrating to young people that playing new music can be enjoyable and stimulating.
The Directors of all seven orchestras were very enthusiastic about how the project went and have all spontaneously programmed for concert performance the pieces they played in the workshops.
2003 Programme
Against the backdrop of this success, Masterprize has decided to extend this scheme nationwide to enable up to 20 youth orchestras to participate. To facilitate this, Masterprize has invited two orchestras of major international status - the CBSO and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra - to join the LSO in the programme. We also welcome into this partnership the National Association of Youth Orchestras.
The 2003 education programme will include major events at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham, and the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool, where participating youth orchestras will perform one of the five finalist pieces of the Masterprize 2003 competition. The Masterprize Education Programme will also be one of the first projects to make use of the London Symphony Orchestra's stunning newly renovated education venue - St Luke's.
At these events, the members will first attend coaching sessions with musicians from the partner orchestras on their chosen Masterprize piece. Each event will culminate with a public performance by the youth orchestras of their chosen Masterprize piece. At these concerts a recording will be taken and then sent to Mariss Jansons, Artistic Adviser to Masterprize, who will award prizes based on these performances.
Other youth orchestras have chosen to hold their workshop and performance events from their own rehearsal space where musicians from the partner orchestras will give input through rehearsals and sectional performance workshops. After the coaching, the youth orchestras will give a performance of their chosen Masterprize finalist piece which will again be recorded and sent to Mariss Jansons.
Finals award
Representatives from all the participating youth orchestras will then be invited to London on Thursday 30th October 2003 to attend the Masterprize Gala Final and a special programme of events at the Barbican Centre and the London Symphony Orchestras' brand new education venue - St Luke's.
Youth orchestra performers will have to opportunity to see the professionals at work when they hear the London Symphony Orchestra rehearse the finalist pieces in the Barbican Hall. Meanwhile at St Luke's, performers will be able to choose from a variety of activities, ranging from masterclasses and improvisation workshops to seminars given by Masterprize partners Classic FM and EMI Classics. Some will also have the chance to try out Balinese gamelan instruments. There will then be a chance to meet the Masterprize Finalist composers, before sitting down in the Barbican Hall to spot the celebrities and listen to the LSO play the five Masterprize finalists' pieces in the Gala Concert.
At the end of the concert, while the judging of the main competition is taking place, the youth orchestra members will be able look out for glimpses of themselves in the film that will be shown of the regional events and workshops. They will then find out which performances given by the youth orchestras Mariss Jansons, most appreciated. Cash prizes of £1,500, £1,000 and £500 will be presented to the top three youth orchestras.
"The London Symphony Orchestra took
part in the inaugural Masterprize Education Programme and is
delighted to be participating in the expanded 2003 Programme
alongside the Birmingham Symphony and Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestras. Working with talented young
instrumentalists is a priority for LSO Discovery, the LSO's
education and community programme, and each year LSO
musicians work with young people from across the country.
The Masterprize Education Programme offers a great
opportunity for young musicians to engage with contemporary
music in a practical way and we are looking forward to
involving LSO musicians in the process."
Karen Irwin, Head of LSO Discovery
"The CBSO are delighted to be working
with Masterprize and six youth orchestras from Central
England in September 2003. The principle of encouraging
young instrumentalists is of the utmost importance and
interest to the musicians of the CBSO, and the opportunity
to offer this service through Masterprize fits perfectly
with our education policy. The involvement of contemporary
music in this project is a much-welcomed added bonus to the
enterprise."
Keith Stubbs, Education and Projects Manager,
CBSO
"The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was one of the first orchestras in the country to make a commitment to music education. Our groundbreaking education and participation programme reached more than 50,000 children from the Fylde Coast to Cheshire in the past year alone, while our choral musicianship programme offers young people and adults the chance to discover the joy of singing.
The Liverpool Phil is also the home of
Merseyside Youth Orchestra, and we are delighted to host the
Masterprize education programme as part of the Masterprize
Competition for UK youth orchestras. With fewer
opportunities to play music in schools, youth orchestras
have an important role to play in nurturing the musicians of
the future. Not only is playing in a youth orchestra hugely
enjoyable, it also equips young people with important skills
that they draw on later in life."
Michael Elliott
Chief Executive
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
"The National Association of Youth
Orchestras is, once again, extremely pleased to be involved
with the Education Programme of Masterprize. NAYO member
youth orchestras which took part in the 2001 education
scheme gained much from the experience, with the winning
orchestra, Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra,
bringing the winning piece - In Aeternam by Pierre
Jalbert - to NAYO's 2002 Festival of British Youth
Orchestras for highly acclaimed performances in Edinburgh
and Glasgow. The Masterprize Education Programme is a very
dynamic and exciting event, of special appeal to young
instrumentalists, and NAYO is delighted that it is now
extending the opportunity to youth orchestras from a wider
geographic area to work with such internationally
distinguished professional orchestras."
Carol Main, Director, NAYO 31.10.02
Timetable:
7th September 2003
Regional event: Birmingham
Birmingham Symphony
20th September 2003
Regional event: Liverpool
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
5th and 12th October 2003
Regional events: London
St Luke's Education Centre
30th October 2003
Finals award and Masterprize Gala Final -
London
Barbican Centre
For further information contact:
Madeleine Milne, Masterprize,
020 8727 2371/ 07786 061 986 email: madeleine@masterprize.com