Dunedin Concerto Competition - Preliminary Rounds Concerts

During 5 - 7 March, around thirty talented young Classical musicians from Otago and Southland will gather at Marama Hall at the University of Otago. They are all excited and enthusiastic participants in the first Dunedin Concerto Competition. Their ages range from 12 to 22 and they include players on a range of instruments from violin to trumpet and from flute to piano, from recorder to cello and from trombone to clarinet.

Supported by the Hodgson Towers Family Trust the Competition has been launched to provide the young Classical musicians of Otago and Southland with an opportunity to develop their performing skills. Everyone competes in the preliminary rounds in March, as a result of which three finalists will be chosen to perform with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra at a Town Hall Concert on 7 May.

There will be 6 Sessions over the weekend. Visit www.dunedinconcerto.com for a detailed schedule of performances to help you to purchase your session tickets. Entry for those under 14 years are FREE.

Those who aren’t selected for the final have the opportunity to win prizes too. The Competition organizers want to reward and encourage as many young performers as possible to keep on developing their skills.

For the March preliminary round contestants will be accompanied by pianists Tom McGrath, Sandra Crawshaw, John van Buskirk and David Burchell.

Adjudicators Dierde Irons (piano), Bridget Douglas (flute) and Donald Maurice (violin/viola) will have a challenging task to pick out the best of Otago and Southland’s finest young musicians.

The public are encouraged to attend the six sessions of the March preliminary round and hear our talented young musicians show us what they can do. Music will be performed by some of the greatest concerto composers including Mozart, Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Dvorak, Liszt and Elgar