The international jury of our Big Band Composition Contest for Young Composers from the Baltic and Nordic countries has evaluated the scores submitted by the participants and made a pre-selection. The semi-finalists are:
• Mikkel Dahl Amundsen
• Aarni Häkkinen
• Tobias Stavngaard
• Marks Jonatans Runds
• Annija Briška
• Anna Bignami
• Max Hallberg
• Pols Bernards Bernots
• Klara Lannsjo
• Markus Mannström
The Semi-final round with the jury will take place on November 1st, 2024, when the pre-selected compositions will be performed in the semi-final concert in the Ziedona Hall of the National Library of Latvia by the soloists and the united Big Band of the students of JVLMA, Baltic and Nordic countries, conducted by Dāvis Jurka.
After the concert the jury will announce three finalists whose compositions will be performed by the Latvian Radio Big Band and soloists in the final of the contest on December 5, 2024. The venue - Spikeri Concert Hall. Prizes: 1st place - € 900, 2nd place - € 700, 3rd place - € 500
The jury consists of the representatives from all three Baltic States, Norway and Sweden, locally and internationally experienced and renowned musicians and composers - Jievaras Jasinskis (Lithuania), Jon Georg Balke (Norway), Peter Danemo (Sweden), Ēriks Ešenvalds (Latvia) and Jukkis Uotila (Finland).
A significant contribution to the competition is the jury members' master classes for young composers and performers, which will take place during the week from October 28 to November 1 both in person at JVLMA and online.
With this competition, which is unique in the Baltics, we want to discover unknown talents, enrich the repertoire composed for big band, strengthen the ties between the young composers themselves. The competition is open to young composers aged between 18 and 30, including senior grade students of music secondary schools and colleges, university students and young professionals, who are permanently studying or residing in the Baltic and Nordic countries.
The Contest is supported by the Erasmus+ programme, State Culture Cpital Fund of Latvia, the national concert agency "Latvijas Koncerti", and kindly hosted by the National Library of Latvia.
Photo: Oskars Artūrs Upenieks