The ARD International Music Competition Munich is one of the grandest classical music competitions in the world. The winner’s list contains a Who’s Who of legendary musicians ranging from Mitsuko Uchida to Christoph Eschenbach to Maurice André to Jessye Norman. Instruments categories rotate every few years with the 71st edition offering a trombone category in addition to flute, string quartet, and piano. The prestigious trombone category last took place in 2015 with Michael Buchanan of Great Britain taking the First Prize.

Watch First Round Footage Here

Watch Other Round Coverage Here

Schedule

This year’s event will take place from August 31st to September 9th with the first round occurring between August 31st and September 2nd. A full schedule (with repertoire selections) can be viewed here and details found at the bottom of this article.

• 1st Round
  • August 31 to September 2 at 10.00 and 15.30
  • Bayerischer Rundfunk, Studio 2, Rundfunkplatz 1
• 2nd Round
  • September 3 and 4 at 10.00 and 15.30
  • Bayerischer Rundfunk, Studio 2, Rundfunkplatz 1
• Semi-finals (with the Münchener Kammerorchester)
  • September 6 at 16.00
  • Bayerischer Rundfunk, Studio 1, Rundfunkplatz 1
• Finals (with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks)
  • September 9 at 18.00
  • Herkulessaal der Residenz, Residenzstr. 1
• 1st Prize Winner’s Concert
  • September 14 at 20.00
  • Concert with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester
  • Prinzregententheater Prinzregentenplatz 12
• 2nd Prize Winner’s Concert
  • September 15 at 20.00
  • Concert with the Münchener Kammerorchester
  • Prinzregententheater Prinzregentenplatz 12
• 3rd Prize Winner’s Concert
  • September 16 at 20.00
  • Concert with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
  • Herkulessaal der Residenz Residenzstr. 1

The Participants

These trombonists come from around the world and highlight some of the absolute best talents on the instrument. The following names are listed according to their competition time.

• August 31 from 10.00
  • Matej Štih, Slovenia
  • João Mendes Canelas, Portugal
  • Theodor Eduard Schenck, Germany
  • Thomas Gahleitner, Austria
  • Alberto Bonillo Losa, Spain
  • Eryk Mencner, Poland
  • Pavlo Titiaiev, Ukraine
  • Rocco Rescigno, Italy
• August 31 from 15.30
  • Hannah Rebecca Stell, Great Britain
  • Jan Hormann, Germany
  • Marco Rodrigues, Portugal
  • Alberto Belzunegui, Spain
• September 1 from 10.00
  • Karol Gajda, Poland
  • William Foster, Great Britain
  • Alejandro Cantos Sánchez, Spain
  • Tomás Ferreira, Portugal
  • Jingwei Chen, China
  • Edward Dealecio, USA
  • Lucas Ounissi, France
  • Maria Mertes, Germany
• September 1 from 15.30
  • Ferdinand Heuberger, Germany
  • Leander Seidenbusch, Germany
  • Miguel Cedeño, Venezuela
  • Elai Grisaru, Israel
  • Neven Derrien, France
  • Marc Jonas Krohn, Germany
  • Marie Nøkleby Hanssen, Norway
  • Ann-Catherina Strehmel, Germany
• September 2 from 10.00
  • Lucas Tiefenthaler, Switzerland
  • Polina Tarasenko, Ukrain
  • Mate Đuzel, Croatia
  • Yongsoo Yoon, Korea
  • Florian Helbich, Germany
  • Philippe Stier, Germany
  • Thomas Mercat, France
  • Christian Traute, Germany
  • Elias Andrea Schäfer, Switzerland
• September 2 from 15.30
  • Jeffrey Kant, Netherlands
  • Adrian Wehle, Germany
  • Ian Sankey, Great Britain
  • Kris Garfitt, Great Britain
  • Gonçalo Nova, Portugal
  • Tim Ouwejan, Netherlands
  • Roberto de la Guía Martínez, Spain
  • Jaroslaw Meisner, Poland
  • Jonathon Ramsay, Australia
  • Lukas Gassner, Austria

The Jury

• Eric Crees (Chairperson), Great Britain
• David Bruchez-Lalli, Switzerland
• Jonas Bylund, Sweden
• Abbie Conant, USA/Germany
• Antoine Ganaye, France
• Fabrice Millischer, France (2007 First Prize Winner)
• Toby Oft, USA
• Hansjörg Profanter, Germany

Past Winners

• 2015
  • 1st Prize: Michael Buchanan, Great Britain
  • 2nd Prize: Jonathan Reith, France
  • 3rd Prize: Guilhem Kusnierek, France
• 2007
  • 1st Prize: Fabrice Millischer, France
  • 2nd Prize: Frederic Belli, Germany
  • 3rd Prize: Juan Carlos Matamoros, Spain
• 1995
  • 3rd Prize: András Fejér, Hungary
  • 3rd Prize: Jean Raffard, France
• 1989
  • 2nd Prize: Jonas Krister Bylund, Sweden
  • 3rd Prize: Heather Buchman, USA
  • 3rd Prize: Thomas Horch, West Germany
• 1981
  • 2nd Prize: Michel Becquet, France
  • 2nd Prize: Michael Mulcahy, Australia
  • 3rd Prize: Gilles Millière, France
• 1974
  • 2nd Prize: Ronald Barron, USA
  • 2nd Prize: Branimir Slokar, Yugoslavia
  • 3rd Prize: Michel Becquet, France
• 1965
  • 2nd Prize: Jean-Pierre Mathieu, France
  • 2nd Prize: Zdeněk Pulec, ČSSR

Last Row Music will do its best to stay updated on the latest news from the competition in Munich.

Sources

• ARD International Music Competition
• Wikipedia