Ukrainian musicians are the best
First Volodymyr Antonov International Competition of Woodwind Instruments Players gathered 41 contestants (out of 100 applicants) from nine countries
This competition appeared in the ocean of various competitions held in Kyiv like an island of volcanic origin. It gave every reason to speak about it as a serious artistic competition: broad geography of nine countries, more than 100 applicants, quite representative jury, high professional level of the musicians and online broadcast of all three tours on the web site of the competition (which attracted the audience in 60 countries!). All of that created a special psychological comfort and festive atmosphere during six days of the competition for the participants, the jury, as well as for the large audience.
The jury consisted of reputable members: rector of Reinhold Gliere Kyiv Istitute of Music composer Oleksandr Zlotnyk (head of the jury), conductor and artistic director of New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra Ueno Takashi (Japan), professor of the Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine Roman Vovk, professor of the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music Ivan Olenchik (Russia), and music director of “Camerata-Akademus” Anatolii Kohan. Leading ensembles from Kyiv performed during the competition: Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, conducted by Vitalii Protasov and National Ensemble of Soloists “Kyiv Camerata” (conducted by Valerii Matiukhin).
The competition, held in two categories (flute and clarinet), not by chance was named after Volodymyr Antonov – famous musician, legendary virtuoso flutist, brilliant teacher, mentor of hundreds of musicians who now became world famous. Significantly, the Ukrainian flutists and clarinetists had a brilliant victory in this competition.
Oleksandr KOCHERZHENKO, general director of the competition, shared some secrets of successful “debut” of the contest with The Day. He said: “You know, you might get the impression that the present contest appeared all of a sudden only at a first glance. In fact, before we had other competitions: Dnipro Stars and Volodymyr Antonov National Competition for Musicians, which served as a general rehearsal of this year’s event. And the fact, that the last competition attracted 120 musicians that were willing to participate in it and their professional level was amazing, made me think that we should bring this competition to a higher orbit. We analyzed similar competitions in Europe and established the appropriate requirements for participation and programs for the musicians. The fact that the first competition gathered musicians from nine countries and we invited 41 participants, who demonstrated high overall level of musical performance, to the first tour proves that our vision of formation the contest requirements and the programs for the musicians were correct.
“The vote was secret, no one consulted other jury members on ratings. After each performance the secretary collected data for each contestant and then showed the average score. Therefore, there were no misunderstandings between the jury members regarding the assessment of the performing skills of the musicians. Take into account the fact that the jury had no right to make a mistake since everything was taking place literally ‘before the eyes’ of multimillion audience, who could make their own verdict of each musician.
“By the way, the students of our Music Academy convincingly demonstrated an extremely high level of skills. See for yourself: out of eight winners of this year’s competition six are Ukrainians. Moreover, our young musicians took the top places. In the category ‘Flute’ the first prize was not awarded at all, but the second prize was divided between Anastasia Hanzenko and Denis Smirnov (both come from Ukraine). First prize in the category ‘Clarinet’ was awarded to Kyiv-based musician Andrii Opanashchuk, the third prize was awarded to Taras Hamar (Kyiv). The special prize for performing original piece by modern Ukrainian composer Volodymyr Runchak Homo Ludens, solo for clarinet was given to a young, but rather experienced contestant, Musician of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the National Radio Company of Ukraine, soloist of the international I, CULTURE Orchestra Vasyl Riabitsky. Russian musician Mikhail Mering (clarinet, second prize) was praised by the jury and the audience. By the way, he played on the instrument that he received from Vladimir Spivakov. The second prize in the category ‘Flute’ was awarded to an experienced musician from Hungary Kata Scheuring.”
The final concert and the awarding ceremony was honored by the presence of diplomatic representatives of countries, whose musicians participated in the contest, and famous musical and public figures.
Next Contest named after Volodymyr Antonov, scheduled to take place in 2014 (the web site had an announcement of the competition in the categories: “Bassoon,” “Oboe,” and “Saxophone”), will maintain the high level in tune with the name of this great musician, which today serves as the emblem of the competition.
