Julio García Vico wins the 16th Donatella Flick Conducting Competition

Wednesday 22 March 2023
Julio García Vico, a 29-year-old Spanish conductor, has won the 16th Donatella Flick Conducting Competition. Conducting the London Symphony Orchestra from memory, Vico took the prize at an adjudicated concert at LSO St Luke’s on London’s Old Street. He receives a £15,000 cash award from Donatella Flick, and becomes Assistant Conductor at the London Symphony Orchestra for one year. The 16th Competition, which marks 30 years since the first Competition in 1991, was originally scheduled to take place in February 2021 but was postponed in response to UK Government restrictions around the covid-19 pandemic.

“The past year has been a time of huge uncertainty for musicians with many facing significant challenges and some leaving the profession altogether. So to see the skill, musicianship and enthusiasm of the young people taking part has been truly heartening. Warmest congratulations to Julio García Vico, a worthy winner who, as LSO Assistant Conductor, will have the opportunity to work with some of the greatest conductors in the world. I’d like to thank Kathryn McDowell and the wonderful London Symphony Orchestra for their flexibility and tenacity, without which rescheduling the Competition would have been impossible. I’d also like to thank our esteemed jury for their commitment to the Competition and all of this year’s contestants, many of whom have had to quarantine in order to take part.”

— Donatella Flick, the Competition's Founder

As LSO Assistant Conductor, Julio García Vico will have the opportunity to work with LSO Music Director Sir Simon Rattle, Principal Guest Conductors François-Xavier Roth and Gianandrea Noseda, as well as a number of guest conductors throughout the orchestral season. With unprecedented access to LSO rehearsals as well as concerts he will learn his craft both from the conductors and from the Orchestra itself. There may also be opportunities to conduct the LSO himself, and to become involved with the Orchestra’s award-winning education programme, LSO Discovery.

Julio García Vico was one of 20 young conductors who competed across the Competition’s three days, from 21-23 May. A panel of illustrious conductors and musicians judged each round, selecting the successful candidates to go on to the next, and ultimately selecting the winner from three finalists. The runners-up were 25-year-old Martijn Dendievel from Belgium and 24-year-old Chloe Rooke from the UK.

On the judging panel were the conductors Andrew Constantine, winner of the first Competition in 1991, Sian Edwards, Head of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, and Carlo Rizzi. From the LSO, Principal Bassoon Rachel Gough and David Alberman, the Orchestra’s Chairman and Principal 2nd Violin. The composer and conductor Sir James MacMillan was also on the panel, which was chaired by Lennox Mackenzie, former Sub-Leader of the LSO. The London Symphony Orchestra had its own collective vote as part of the adjudication process.

Donatella Flick founded her Conducting Competition in 1990, 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, under the patronage of HRH The Prince Of Wales. There have been 17 winners of 16 Donatella Flick Conducting Competitions (In the year 2000 the prize was jointly won by François-Xavier Roth and Pablo Gonsalves), and some 320 young conductors have taken part. The biennial Competition is open to citizens of the UK, the EU, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.