II International Ferenc Fricsay Conducting Competition

1A. The Second International Ferenc Fricsay Conducting Competition (in the following ‘II IFFCC’) is open to all applicants regardless of age.

1B. The II IFFCC will consist of the Qualifying phase and the Live phase (hereinafter respectively referred to as ‘QP’ and ‘LP’).

1C. The QP will take place online from 22.04.2025 to 13.07.2025.

1D. The QP will include the review of videos and CVs of the applicants and the selection of those to be admitted to the LP.

1E. The results of the QP will be published on the II IFFCC website no later than 28.07.2025.

1F. Applicants who have been admitted to the LP will be informed of their progress by email no later than 01.08.2025.

1G. The LP will be held at the Korzó Music Hall (in Hungarian: Korzó Zeneház) Szeged and the Szeged National Theatre (in Hungarian: Szegedi Nemzeti Színház) from 31.08.2025 to 07.09.2025.

1H. The LP will consist of Round 1, Round 2, Semi-Final and Final (hereinafter respectively referred to as ‘R1’, ‘R2’, ‘SF’, and ‘FI’).

1I. The number of participants in the LP is as follows R1 – to be announced, R2 – 16 participants, SF – 8 participants, FI – 4 participants.

1J. The jury members of the II IFFCC are Heiko Mathias Förster, Sándor Gyüdi, Lucius Hemmer, Alevtina Ioffe, Kirill Karabits, Constantine Orbelian, Adam Stadnicki and Nayden Todorov.

1K. The official language of the II IFFCC will be English.

2A. To apply for the II IFFCC, please complete the application form on this website by submitting your CV, performance videos, and repertoire preferences for each round of the LP (R1, R2, SF, and FI), and by paying the application fee of 100.00 EUR.

2B. The application fee is non-refundable, even if the applicant admitted to the LP is unable to attend the II IFFCC, except in the case of cancellation.

2C. The evaluation of the applicants’ CVs and performance videos will be carried out online by the jury members using the Yes/Maybe/No (Y-M-N) voting method.

2D. The evaluation will be followed by the aggregation of Yes/Maybe/No (Y-M-N) votes and the determination of the applicants who will proceed to the LP.

2E. The decisions of the jury in the QP are final and not subject to appeal.

2F. When submitting the application, each applicant must select one piece for each round (R1, R2, SF, and FI) from the list provided on this website (see ‘REPERTOIRE’ and ‘STAGE TIME’).

2G. The choice of repertoire for each round (maximum one piece for R1, R2, SF, and FI, see ‘REPERTOIRE’) is final once the application has been received.

3A. Performance videos must (1) include music from any historical period, (2) be streamable and downloadable, (3) be a minimum of five minutes in length.

3B. Acceptable ensemble videos may include both instrumental and vocal.

3C. Recorded piano rehearsals are permitted.

3D. More than one movement or part of the same piece is allowed.

3E. Jury members are required to watch a maximum of two performance videos, but are not obliged to watch them in their entirety.

4A. Applicants selected to participate in the LP (R1) will be required to pay the participation fee of 400.00 EUR.

4B. The participation fee is non-refundable, even if the applicant admitted to the LP (R1) is unable to attend the II IFFCC, except in the case of cancellation.

4C. In the LP (R1, R2, SF, FI) each participant will conduct the Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra Szeged in full instrumentation in front of the jury.

4D. In the LP (R1, R2, SF, FI), the participants will have a limited time to perform (see ‘STAGE TIME’ section).

4E. The decisions of the jury in the LP are final and not subject to appeal.

5A. The First Prize (Gold Medal) of the II IFFCC includes conducting engagements at:

Baden-Baden Philharmonic (Philharmonie Baden-Baden)
Bern Symphony Orchestra / Bern Opera (Berner Symphoniker / Oper Bern)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Danish National Philharmonic Orchestra / South Jutland Symphony Orchestra (Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester)
Deutsche Oper Berlin [assistant conductor]
Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra Szeged (Szegedi Nemzeti Szimfonikus Zenekar)
Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra (Kauno miesto simfoninis orkestras)
Leipzig Symphony Orchestra (Leipziger Symphonieorchester)
Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (Nürnberger Symphoniker)
Prague Royal Philharmonic
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra (Sofiyska Filharmoniya).

5B. The Second Prize (Silver Medal) of the II IFFCC includes conducting engagements at:

Baden-Baden Philharmonic (Philharmonie Baden-Baden)
Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra Szeged (Szegedi Nemzeti Szimfonikus Zenekar)
Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra (Kauno miesto simfoninis orkestras).

5C. The Third Prize (Bronze Medal) of the II IFFCC includes a conducting engagement at:

Baden-Baden Philharmonic (Philharmonie Baden-Baden).

5D. Guest conducting engagements must take place no later than the 2026/2027 season.

5E. The organisation of each guest conducting engagement is governed exclusively by the internal rules and procedures of the respective orchestras.