Maestro rising: Young Brit wins Herbert von Karajan Award
NewsThe British conductor Joel Sandelson was chosen by an international jury chaired by Manfred Honeck to win the revived Karajan Award for 2021.
Honeck said: ‘The decision was not easy, but we finally agreed on Joel Sandelson because he put his naturally joyful musicianship at the service of the music and clearly conveyed his musical ideas.’
The award is worth a cash prize of € 15,000 and international prestige.
Sandelson, 27,has been assistant conductor at the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard.
‘€ 15,000 and international prestige’, but no gest conducting?
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
An earlier mention of Sandelson here: https://slippedisc.com/2021/06/two-women-left-in-malko-competition/
Not much of an endorsement–“The decision was not easy, but we finally agreed on Joel Sandelson because he put his naturally joyful musicianship at the service of the music….”
This competition result simply shows how flawed the process is in nearly every case. I have lost track of the number of young men and women who were deemed not good enough in one contest to proceed far beyond early rounds, only to be lauded as top material in others. This applies to instrumentalists and singers as much as it does to conductors. In the latter case, however, it is practical experience
as well as the opinions of orchestras which are better indicators of substantial talent rather than the flash of publicity that comes from winning a conducting competition. As a number of great minds have already stated, there are just too many such competitions at present. Take a look at the many winners of the last two decades: where are they now? A minority, but really only a tiny majority, have gone on to successful international careers.
Was it micro managed?
Sanderling + Nelsons = Sandelson