They rushed to register for the 59th International Competition for Young Conductors in Besançon, this Thursday, January 16, 2025. 304 lucky people will participate in the auditions. The crowds were such that a waiting list was created. There will only be 20 of them participating in the final events, from September 22 to 27, 2025.
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There will be 304 of them present at the International Competition for Young Conductors in Besançon. But this Thursday, January 16, 2025 at noon, there were many more wanting to register for the famous competition. A waiting list has been created. Faced with the influx, the number of places has been slightly increased compared to 2023, particularly in Seoul and Montreal.
“Incredible! Registrations for the 59th Besançon Young Conductors Competition opened at 12:00 p.m., and at 12:05 p.m. a queue of more than 250 people on our site”, wrote Jean-Michel Mathé, director of the Besançon International Music Festival. Reached by telephone, he specifies: “There was immediately a large turnout. We opened a waiting list, in case of withdrawal. Around twenty people are registered on it”. And it’s a new record. “Last year, registrations were complete at 8 p.m., today it’s at 4 p.m.,” announces Jean-Michel Mathé.
From year to year, registrations close more and more quickly. “When I arrived, 12 years ago, we were still in the mail,” remembers Jean-Michel Mathé. To meet ever-growing demand, the Festival had to adapt by improving registration procedures. “Now it’s done in just a few moments, so a lot of people were on the job.”.
-“To see such enthusiasm is great,” greets the director of the International Music Festival. What attracts according to him? The shape of the selection. “We organize real auditions. In other conducting competitions, candidates send a video that they make themselves”. Their system, certainly more cumbersome, which puts the candidates on an equal footing.
Only 20 candidates will participate in the final rounds of the Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors, the 59th edition of which will take place from September 22 to 27, 2025.
To (re)see also : SOUND SLIDESHOW. In the privacy of the Besançon Young Conductors Competition – (2020)
Since 2015, the winner has benefited from three months of support, so that the Grand Prix de Besançon becomes a real career springboard, in addition to a welcome spotlight.
The last Frenchman to have won the International Competition is Swann Van Reche, winner of the Grand Prize at the age of 25, in 2023, Orchestra’s Favorite and Audience’s Favorite. Subsequently, he was nominated in the “Revelation, conductor” category at the Victoires de la Musique Classique 2024.
