Round One – 12 July @ Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium

 

- 12 Candidates will take turns to interact with the Choir for 20 mins

- There are 2 sections within this duration; each Section has its own set-repertoire.

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- The first section is a performance of one of the following pieces without any rehearsal with the Choir. The jury will tell the candidate on the spot which piece they have to perform.

 

- Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 – 1847): Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe. Gloria

- Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998): The third Hymn from “Three Sacred Hymns”

 

- The second section, which continues without a break after their performance of Mendelssohn/Schnittke, will take place in the form of a rehearsal and performance with the Choir. Candidates will draw lots on the arrival day (11/7) to decide which piece from the following list they will rehearse and perform with the Choir in this section.

 

- Candidates should rehearse the piece as good as they possibly can and to perform it before the end of this section. Each piece will appear twice in the lots (i.e. each piece will only be conducted by two candidates).

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- Knut Nystedt (1915-2014): Prayers of Kierkegaard

- Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016): Suite de Lorca

- Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): First Movement (Langsam und ausdrucksvoll) from Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen? op. 74, No. 1

- Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951): Friede auf Erden op. 13

- Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (1899–1963): O Magnum Mysterium

- György Ligeti (1923-2006): Éjszaka, Reggel

 

- For the candidates who draw Nystedt, Rautavaara or Ligeti, they can decide which movement to work on and perform at the end of the session.

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- For the candidates who draw Schönberg, they can choose which section to work on and perform at the end of the session.

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- The results of this Round (i.e. the list of candidates who will enter Round Two) will be announced in the evening of the same day.

 

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Round Two – 13 July @ Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium

 

- 6 Candidates from Round 1 will take turns to interact with the Choir for 30 mins

- There are 3 Sections within this duration; each Section has its own set-repertoire.

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The first section is a performance of one of the following pieces without any rehearsal with the Choir. The jury will tell the candidate on the spot which piece they have to perform.

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- Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630): Dennoch bleibe ich stets an dir

- Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 – 1611): O magnum mysterium

 

The second section, which continues without a break after their performance of Schein/Victoria, will be a performance (without any rehearsal with the choir) of Vers 3 (Trotz, dem alten Drachen) and Fugue (Ihr aber seid nicht fleischlich) from Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Jesu, meine Freude

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The third section will take place in the form of a rehearsal and performance with the Choir. Candidates will draw lots on the previous day (12/7) to decide which piece from the following list they will rehearse and perform with the Choir in this section. Candidates should rehearse this piece as good as they possibly can and to perform it before the end of this section. Each piece will appear twice in the lots (i.e. each piece will only be conducted by two candidates).

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- Jacobus Gallus (1550-1591): Gaudeamus omnes fideles

- Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643): Zefiro torna e’l bel tempo rimena (á 5)

- Henry Purcell (1659–1695): Hear my prayer, O Lord

 

The results of this Round (i.e. the list of candidates who will enter the Final Round) will be announced in the evening of the same day.

 

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Final Round – 14 July @ Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall

 

- 3 Finalists will construct their own programme of up to 20 mins using the repertoire list below

- The programme must include the Competition’s Compulsory Commissioned Piece

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Compulsory Commissioned Piece:

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- Zechariah GOH Toh Chai: The Spirit Rejoices

 

Other pieces:

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- Nana Forte (1981): Libera me

- James MacMillan (1959): Miserere

- Ko Matsushita (1962): Usquequo Domine

- Sven-David Sandström (1942): Credo

- Randall Stroope (1953): The Conversion of Saul

 

- Each finalist has a 1-hour rehearsal with the Choir to prepare the programme for a public performance which will take place as the Final Round of the Competition.

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- The results of this Round will be announced shortly after the end of the performances.