ABOUT
In 1990, Donatella Flick founded her Conducting Competition to offer much-needed support to young conductors at the start of their careers. She remains at the helm of the Competition working with a small team and in partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra to present the Competition every two years.
Donatella Flick became aware of the challenges faced by young conductors bridging the gap between conservatoire training and a professional career, the point at which many talented conductors falter or even abandon their conducting ambitions completely, and in 1990 she founded the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition to help address the issue. Thirty years on and around 300 young conductors have taken part in 16 biennial Competitions in London and there have been 17 winners (in 2000, two conductors took the prize jointly). In 1996 a partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra began which has continued to grow ever since. The Finalists are lucky enough to conduct the LSO during the Competition’s Final, and the Orchestra has a collective vote as part of the judging panel.
The prize comprises a cash award from Donatella Flick of £15,000, and a one year tenure as Assistant Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra. This unique prize, the result of the close collaboration developed by Donatella Flick with the LSO since 1996, offers unparalleled access to the Orchestra and its roster of conductors. They will have the opportunity to assist some of the world’s finest conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Gianandrea Noseda, and Michael Tilson Thomas, as well as guest conductors including Marin Alsop and Sir Antonio Pappano. There may also be opportunities to conduct the LSO in concert, on tour, and to work on education and learning projects, helping to lay the strongest of foundations for a successful conducting career.
Many of the Competition’s winners have developed excellent careers. François-Xavier Roth (joint-winner in 2000) developed such a fine rapport with the LSO during his time as Assistant Conductor that he has worked with the Orchestra every year since, leading its young composers programme for many years and in 2016 becoming Principal Guest Conductor.
His broad-ranging, international career extends to Cologne, where he is the City’s Generalmusikdirektor and to his work with Les Siècles, the award-winning Parisian philharmonic orchestra he founded in 2003, which employs period instruments and groundbreaking performance formats, quietly revolutionising the way we experience music.
François-Xavier Roth returned to the Competition in 2018 but this time to sit on the jury.
In 2014, Elim Chan became the first woman to win the Competition and her star has been rising sharply ever since. She was appointed to the Dudamel Fellowship programme with the LA Philharmonic in 2016/17 and in 2018 she became Principal Guest Conductor at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. 2019 saw her BBC Proms debut with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and she was appointed Chief Conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra from the 2019/20 season.
Celebrated by the press for her debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in 2019, other recent engagements have inclujded Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Sydney Symphony orchestras alongside returns to LA Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic orchestras.
Elim Chan was lucky enough to receive her prize in 2014 from the Competition’s Patron, the then-HRH The Prince of Wales, who attended with Donatella Flick.
Donatella Flick has always worked hard to ensure that the Competition benefits everyone who takes part, and not only the winners. She achieves this through carefully considered repertoire for each round, and by inviting conductors and musicians of the highest calibre to be on the jury, giving their time for free and bringing with them a wealth of experience and wisdom.
In 2018 the Competition broadened its reach through live-streaming and the production of an award-winning documentary. The Competition Final was streamed live for the first time, allowing a worldwide audience on Medici TV to experience the Competition at home, as well as the live public audience in the Barbican Hall. The public were also given access to the preliminary rounds for the first time. The maximum age for applicants was reduced from 35 to 30, to better target conductors just starting their professional careers and citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland were able to apply for the first time, as well as EU citizens and UK citizens.
In 2018 and 2021, Il sogno del podio, a major award-winning documentary about the Competition presented by Milly Carlucci, was produced by RAI TV, Italy’s national broadcaster.