On the 27th of January at 18:00 at the Saint Savior Auditorium in Jerusalem, the final concert of the winners of the Magnificat Piano Competition “Nikolaus De La Flüe” (free entrance ) will be held. The piano competition organized by the Magnificat Institute of the Custody of the Holy Land, is at its fourteenth consecutive edition and the oldest annual musical competition in the Holy Land.
The competition objectives
The participants are young Palestinian piano students and students registered in Palestinian schools as well as, naturally, students from the Magnificat Institute , whatever the origin may be. The objective is to find and promote young musicians who, in a close future, can start a professional carrier in the music sector, both as performers and teachers, in the context of the Arab society. In fact, in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories, the music school registration demand - in particular for piano- is in continuous growth, but there are not many qualified professors; the study of music, more than being an educational activity of cultural and social promotion, will become an interesting working opportunity. Another goal of the competition is purely a didactic one: to enhance the students to study more and start, since they are little, to undergo a jury's judgment, as the emotion to present oneself in front of a public.
The Competitions' Characteristics
Different categories are foreseen within the competition, according to the age of the participants and the difficulty level of the music piece to play. Each participant must play a compulsory piece and another, of the same level, that is freely chosen. More than the “Nikolaus De La Flüe” prize , there will be other special prizes: the “A.M. Qattan Foundation prize” for choir pieces , the “Zia Pina" prize (in memory of Giuseppina Zeppilli) concentrated on J.S. Bach, the “Premio Vallesina”prize (dedicated to the association from the region Marche that donated the prestigious Steinway piano ) for two pianos and choir , and the “San Giorgio company”prize to the best performer of the Concert for piano and orchestra n. 12, Mozart. The choir is the Yasmeen Buds Choir directed by Miriam Younan formed by the youngest children in the Magnificat.
The Jury
The members of the jury come from local and international conservatories and hold relations at different levels with the Magnificat Institute: these are professor Lea Agmon, director of the Jerusalem conservatory (JAMD), Fernando Scafati and Stefania Redaelli from the “Arrigo Pedrollo” conservatory in Vicenza, Anastasia Dombrovska piano professor at the Music College in Al-Quds University (the Palestinian University in Jerusalem ) and Andrea Vigna-Taglianti, teacher at the“Edward Said" National Palestinian Conservatory . The jury president is the founder and general director of the Magnificat, F. Armando Pierucci. The competition and the jury follow criteria which is transparent and within the law: the president of the jury has no voting right, none of the jury has students within the competition, the result is the mathematical vote sum , excluding the highest and lowest vote, and the competition is open to public (the 25th of January from 9 am to 3 pm; the 26 th of January from 9 am). The prizes shall be handed at the end of the final concert on Sunday the 27 th of January. The sums that are given to the winners are a bit more than symbolic (a maximum of 1500 shekel -300 euro- for the first category, double for special prizes ); some winners –when foreseen by the prize or according to the sponsor's availability - will be invited to perform in concerts in Europe and the Holy Land, starting right on this Sunday 27 concert at 6 pm.
The main sponsor of the competition is the Association of the “Friends of the Magnificat” from Switzerland, that wanted to dedicate it to Nikolaus De La Flüe, the Swiss Patron Saint , who is considered one of the “Fathers of the Homeland ” of the Swiss Confederation . For the third consecutive time “The friends of the Magnificat” have received the Tavasani family from Treviso heritage, that for eleven years has sustained the “Carlo Tavasani” piano competition, in honor of which the Magnificat Institute has published a commemorative volume that will be presented during the soirée. At the end of the concert the promotional material will be distributed and the DVD of certain events from the past season , including the 2012 Piano Competition .
The competition objectives
The participants are young Palestinian piano students and students registered in Palestinian schools as well as, naturally, students from the Magnificat Institute , whatever the origin may be. The objective is to find and promote young musicians who, in a close future, can start a professional carrier in the music sector, both as performers and teachers, in the context of the Arab society. In fact, in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories, the music school registration demand - in particular for piano- is in continuous growth, but there are not many qualified professors; the study of music, more than being an educational activity of cultural and social promotion, will become an interesting working opportunity. Another goal of the competition is purely a didactic one: to enhance the students to study more and start, since they are little, to undergo a jury's judgment, as the emotion to present oneself in front of a public.
The Competitions' Characteristics
Different categories are foreseen within the competition, according to the age of the participants and the difficulty level of the music piece to play. Each participant must play a compulsory piece and another, of the same level, that is freely chosen. More than the “Nikolaus De La Flüe” prize , there will be other special prizes: the “A.M. Qattan Foundation prize” for choir pieces , the “Zia Pina" prize (in memory of Giuseppina Zeppilli) concentrated on J.S. Bach, the “Premio Vallesina”prize (dedicated to the association from the region Marche that donated the prestigious Steinway piano ) for two pianos and choir , and the “San Giorgio company”prize to the best performer of the Concert for piano and orchestra n. 12, Mozart. The choir is the Yasmeen Buds Choir directed by Miriam Younan formed by the youngest children in the Magnificat.
The Jury
The members of the jury come from local and international conservatories and hold relations at different levels with the Magnificat Institute: these are professor Lea Agmon, director of the Jerusalem conservatory (JAMD), Fernando Scafati and Stefania Redaelli from the “Arrigo Pedrollo” conservatory in Vicenza, Anastasia Dombrovska piano professor at the Music College in Al-Quds University (the Palestinian University in Jerusalem ) and Andrea Vigna-Taglianti, teacher at the“Edward Said" National Palestinian Conservatory . The jury president is the founder and general director of the Magnificat, F. Armando Pierucci. The competition and the jury follow criteria which is transparent and within the law: the president of the jury has no voting right, none of the jury has students within the competition, the result is the mathematical vote sum , excluding the highest and lowest vote, and the competition is open to public (the 25th of January from 9 am to 3 pm; the 26 th of January from 9 am). The prizes shall be handed at the end of the final concert on Sunday the 27 th of January. The sums that are given to the winners are a bit more than symbolic (a maximum of 1500 shekel -300 euro- for the first category, double for special prizes ); some winners –when foreseen by the prize or according to the sponsor's availability - will be invited to perform in concerts in Europe and the Holy Land, starting right on this Sunday 27 concert at 6 pm.
The main sponsor of the competition is the Association of the “Friends of the Magnificat” from Switzerland, that wanted to dedicate it to Nikolaus De La Flüe, the Swiss Patron Saint , who is considered one of the “Fathers of the Homeland ” of the Swiss Confederation . For the third consecutive time “The friends of the Magnificat” have received the Tavasani family from Treviso heritage, that for eleven years has sustained the “Carlo Tavasani” piano competition, in honor of which the Magnificat Institute has published a commemorative volume that will be presented during the soirée. At the end of the concert the promotional material will be distributed and the DVD of certain events from the past season , including the 2012 Piano Competition .