dear young aspiring violists,

the Conservatory of Amsterdam has sent us the following pre-announcement of the National Viola Competition 2017, to be held in conjunction with the bi-annual Amsterdam Viola Festival. You cannot yet apply for participation, but the repertoire/programme is announced in advance, in order to allow early start of planning and study for this competition.

Pre-Announcement of the Fifth National Viola Competition,  16-19 February 2017.

Conditions of participation:
Participants should have the Dutch nationality or be living in the Netherlands (including students from abroad who study at a Dutch institution).
(Upper) age limit is 33 years.

1st Round: 16-2-2017
– one of the Mozart duos for violin and viola, KV 423 or 424, all movements, no repeats
– and –
– solo work of approx. 5 minutes by Oene van Geel, which will be available 4 weeks before the competition
– and –
– Enescu Konzertstück (Concert Piece)

The candidates are required to bring their own violinist for the Mozart duo.

2nd Round: 17-2-2017
30-35 minutes of music, combining (movements from) a) a selected sonata and b) a 20th century music pieces for solo viola according to the options below.

a) Choose (movements) from one of the following sonatas:
Martinu 1st sonata
Bax sonata
Röntgen sonata in c
Milhaud 2nd sonata
Koechlin sonata
Badings sonata
De Cruck sonata

– and –

b) Choose (movements) from one of the following 20th century solo pieces:
Hindemith solo sonatas
Ligeti solo sonata
Reger solo suites
Britten three suites for solo viola, transcription from cello by Nobuko Imai (Faber music)
Strawinsky élégie
Penderecki cadenza

For the sonatas (ensemble playing), it is strongly recommended that the candidates bring their own pianist for the 2nd round. In case this is a problem, they should let the organisation know before 15-12-2016!

3rd Round: 19-2-2017
– Enescu Konzertstück (Concert Piece)
– and –
– 1st movement of:
Bartòk or Walton Viola Concertos, or Hindemith Schwanendreher.

Applications are accepted from 15-09-2016 until 15-12-2016. Please look at the website of the Conservatory of Amsterdam for more information (after the summer break).