Mentoring Program 2021 / APPLICATION IS CLOSED

The Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation is announcing a mentoring program for young professional conductors and composers for the calendar year 2021.

Leading professors of the program: Peter Eötvös (conductor, composer), Gregory Vajda (conductor, composer). Additional renowned guest professors and musicians will be invited for all working periods.

The main supporter of the program is Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne.

Peter Eötvös Foundation provides accommodation and travel costs for the selected young artists, and they can participate in the programs free of charge, as part of the mentoring program. The mentored young artists in order to widen their professional network will get the chance to have special consultations with orchestra managers, festival managers, communication specialists, and they could also visit great concerts halls, opera houses.

A full portfolio of all mentored artists will be ready by the end of the mentoring year. The portfolio will contain photos, video- and audio-recordings, interviews, recommendation letters and other promotional materials.

After the mentoring year, mentored artists, conductors and composers will have the possibility to showcase their work with our partner orchestras, the Danubia Orchestra Óbuda (Budapest) and the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra (Pécs).

We welcome 2 conductors and 2 composers for the mentoring year.

The selection process has two phases. First the application materials will be reviewed by the leading professors, then we will arrange a video-call for personal audition purposes. For the second round a maximum of 10 conductors and 10 composers will be selected.

Application terms and conditions:

The application is open to all nationalities, we invite young professional conductors and composers to apply.

Age limit: 35 years (anybody with his/her 36th Birthday after 31th of December, 2020)

We kindly ask all applicants to read the announcement carefully because all programs for the mentored artists are obligatory. Apply only if you can manage to engage to the whole schedule of the mentoring program.

Applications will only be be accepted via our official website www.eotvosmusicfoundation.org.

Application materials:

Conductors: Curriculum Vitae, 2 recommendation letters, repertoire list, concert list (with performance venues, orchestras), 3 different video-recording links (only youtube or vimeo), also in rehearsal, not just concert.

Composers: Curriculum Vitae, 2 recommendation letters, list of works (with performance dates, venues and performers), playing a musical instrument (demonstration during audition), scores of 3-4 different pieces:

- orchestra piece

- ensemble or chamber piece

- solo piece (for solo instrument)

- vocal piece (solo or choir, it could be accepted as orchestra or ensemble piece, too)

Note: If the vocal piece is uploaded to ensemble or orchestra category, it should be uploaded again to the vocal category, too.

Application deadline: 1 October 2020

Confirmation for audition by 2 November 2020

Video-audition dates:

3 December 2020 COMPOSERS

4 December 2020 CONDUCTORS

No costs of the audition will be covered by the foundation. No scores will be provided printed for audition. Applicants are required to make themselves available for the video interview between 8AM and 8PM local time on the dates posted above. The exact starting time of the audition will be determined at a later date based on time-difference and other factors End-results of the auditions will be announced online by the end of each day, Budapest, Hungary local time, for conductors and composers separately.

The audition for conductors includes the conducting and singing (!) of Schönberg: Kammersymphonie op. 9 as well as an interactive conducting session with the leading professors. The purpose of making candidates sing while conducting is to evaluate their ability to phrase, and to determine their sense of rhythm, pacing and musical expressiveness as well as the the level of their score reading. In the remaining time of the approximately 30 minutes video chat we prefer an informal conversation with the candidate. The young artists will be asked about their pieces, professional activities, interests.

The auditon for composers includes a short (3-8 minutes) instrumental or vocal performance of the candidate of any musical piece. The young artists are allowed to play any instrument available to them during the video-chat session. The purpose of making candidates perform live music is to evaluate their ability to communicate through making music. In the remaining time of the approximately 30 minutes video chat we prefer an informal conversation with the candidate. The young artists will be asked about their pieces, professional activities, interests.

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Preliminary program periods of 2021 mentoring program:

1. working phase:

12-18 February 2021 Budapest, Hungary / Guest professors: György Kurtág, Cornel Taranu (UMZE Ensemble)

2. working phase / Due to COVID-19 this program is subject to change!

April 2021 Munnich, Germany / Rehearsals with BR Orchester and Helmut Lachenmann

3. working phase

May-June 2021 Budapest, Hungary / Guest ensemble: Ars Nova (France)

4. working phase

October 2021 Budapest, Hungary / Guest professor: George Aperghis (Danubia Orchestra Óbuda)

Important notices about the program:

• These dates may change until a mentoring agreement is signed by the mentees and the foundation.
• In the mentoring program the mentored conductors will conduct during the closing concerts of workshops 2 or 3 times in a calendar year and additional conducting projects may come up.
• During the mentor year the composers will be asked to write new pieces for the workshops 2 or 3 times in a calendar year, details will be provided in the mentoring agreement signed after the audition.
• Before or after each workshop special mentor days could be added to provide special programs.
• Travel and accomodation organisation is totally covered by the foundation in coordination with the mentees 3 or 4 months prior to workshops.

For any questions about the program, please contact info@eotvospeter.com at any time and we are happy to help with more information.