Misery in Finland as Panula witholds 1st prize
mainThe international competition founded by the famed conducting teacher has ended with a no-win situation.
The first prize was withheld by a Panula-chaired jury.
The second prize was divided betweenn Johannes Zahn (Germany) and Angus Webster (UK). The third prize was shared by Ross Jamie Collins (Finland/UK) and Kaapo Ijas (Finland).
The orchestra’s favourite was Angus Webster.
Here are the finalists looking miserable.
But credit to the jury for their courage.
If you enter a competition the result is decided from those who turned up and competed, some years may be better than others but you DO NOT withhold a first prize. Alternatively, if they were being compared to an eminent conductor then we should be told who that person is. This is a farce!
When you establish a competition, you can set up the rules the way you want. Other competitions may choose differently.
I do agree that if the competition’s rules allow them to not award the top prize, a potential competitor should be able to find this out before applying.
Go Angus!!