Delyana Lazarova wins inaugural Siemens Hallé International Conductors Competition

The Hallé has named Delyana Lazarova  as the winner of the inaugural Siemens Hallé International Conductors Competition. In addition to a cash prize of £15,000, Lazarova will fulfil a two-year engagement as the 8th Assistant Conductor for the Hallé, which also includes the role of Music Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra. She  will take up this appointment in September 2020 and during her tenure will work under the close mentorship of the Hallé’s Music Director Sir Mark Elder, and assist other visting international conductors. Second prize, which includes a cash prize of £3,000, was awarded to Venezuelan-born Rodolfo Barráez, while British conductor Joel Sandelson received the third prize, which includes a cash prize of £2,000.

“It has been a week of huge excitement for us all to meet, and work with, these wonderful young conductors at the start of their careers,” said Sir Mark Elder. “With so much extraordinary talent on display, choosing the winner was very difficult, but I am delighted to welcome Delyana as the new young conductor of the Hallé, and look forward enormously to our work together.” 

The competition attracted 287 applicants representing 55 countries across all six continents. After two thrilling days at Hallé St Peter’s in Manchester, Lazarova was one of four finalists selected from ten international semi-finalists to rehearse and perform with the Hallé on Saturday 22 February. Lazarova commented on her appointment: "I am extremely excited to have received this prize. The whole experience was incredibly rewarding and I very much enjoyed working alongside such fabulous colleagues. I consider it a great privilege to be able to work with the Hallé and Sir Mark Elder, whom I consider to be an exceptional artist, musician and mind. I am really looking forward to the next two years and being part of the Hallé family." 

Born in Bulgaria and resident in Switzerland, in 2019 Lazarova received the James Conlon Conducting Prize at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival, and has worked with Hradec-Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra in Czech Republic, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra in Greece, Meiningen and Konstanz Symphony Orchestras in Germany.

The judging panel comprised the Hallé Artistic team led by Sir Mark Elder, Music Director; Professor Dr. Stephan Frucht, Artistic Director of the Siemens Arts Program; Arna Kristín Einarsdóttir, Managing Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra; Carola Reul, Managing Director of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie; and Julia Albrecht, Director of the Artist Management Department of Konzertdirektion Schmid.

The Siemens Hallé International Conductors Competition builds upon a remarkable partnership between the Hallé and Siemens AG, a global technology powerhouse, that has been developed over the last two decades. Creating links between engineering and music, Siemens and the Hallé have not only brought classical music to Manchester audiences, they have collaborated on delivering a variety of education and community outreach projects that engage children and support communities throughout the North of England.

DOWNLOAD PRESS PHOTOS FROM THE COMPETITION (credit Hallé)

www.conductors-competition.com
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DELYANA LAZAROVA

Bulgarian-born Delyana Lazarova is currently finishing her Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, under Johannes Schlaefli. She has attended masterclasses with Bernard Haitink, Paavo Järvi, Leonard Slatkin, Larry Rachleff, and Cristian Mâcelaru.

Lazarova was the winner of the NRTA Conducting Competition in Tirana in 2019 and that year also received the James Conlon Conducting Prize at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival. She has twice been the recipient of the Bruno Walter Conducting Scholarship for the Cabrillo Festival in California.

Lazarova has worked with orchestras in Europe and the USA, notably the London Classical Soloists, the Hradec-Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra in Czech Republic, Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra in Greece, Meiningen and Konstanz Symphony Orchestras in Germany, Estonian Festival Orchestra and Aspen Festival Orchestra. Her engagements during the 2020/21 season include concerts with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Albanian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, and I Solisti Aquilani Orchestra in Italy. Delyana will return as a conducting fellow for the prestigious Aspen Music Festival in summer 2020.

Competition finalists
                                                            Country of Birth             Country of Residence

Rodolfo Barráez, 26                               Venezuela                     Germany
Chloé Dufresne, 28                                France                          France
Delyana Lazarova, 34                            Bulgaria                        Switzerland
Joel Sandelson, 25                                United Kingdom            United Kingdom

Hallé former Assistant Conductors:
Edward Gardner            2001-2004
André de Ridder            2004-2006
Rory Macdonald            2006-2008
Ewa Strusinska             2008-2010
Andrew Gourlay            2010-2012~
Jamie Phillips                2012-2016
Jonathon Heyward         2016-2019

Hallé
Founded by pianist and conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1858, the Hallé sits at the heart of Manchester and shares the values of accessibility, education, ambition and excellence that has established this city as a world-class cultural centre. Today, under the direction of Sir Mark Elder CH CBE, the Hallé celebrates its 161st season, offering 70 concerts a year at The Bridgewater Hall and giving over 40 performances annually at venues throughout Britain. Its distinguished history of acclaimed performances also includes televised concerts, radio broadcasts and international tours for which the Hallé has received many accolades, most notably from the Royal Philharmonic Society and the South Bank Awards. In addition to its work on stage, the Hallé is proud to promote the widest range of education activity of any orchestra in the UK, serving more than 70,000 individuals of all ages. Further, its large variety of Ensembles - a symphony choir, youth, children's and training choirs and a youth orchestra - offer high-level training and performance opportunities to talented children, youth and adults throughout the region. Through all of its offerings, the Hallé plays an integral role in the civic and cultural life of Greater Manchester and indeed beyond. To learn more, visit www.halle.co.uk.

Siemens AG
Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 170 years. The company is active around the globe, focusing on the areas of power generation and distribution, intelligent infrastructure for buildings and distributed energy systems, and automation and digitalisation in the process and manufacturing industries. Through the separately managed company Siemens Mobility, a leading supplier of smart mobility solutions for rail and road transport, Siemens is shaping the world market for passenger and freight services. Due to its majority stakes in the publicly listed companies Siemens Healthineers AG and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Siemens is also a world-leading supplier of medical technology and digital healthcare services as well as environmentally friendly solutions for onshore and offshore wind power generation. In fiscal 2019, which ended on September 30, 2019, Siemens generated revenue of €86.8 billion and net income of €5.6 billion. At the end of September 2019, the company had around 385,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com.

Siemens Arts Program
The Siemens Arts Program operates mainly in the areas of music, visual arts and cultural education and provides a platform for the company's own arts and cultural projects. One key objective of the program is the global support of excellent young artists. This is done through internally initiated competitions to find new talent and by networking young artists with established international cultural institutions (ARD Music Competition, Bavarian State Opera, Carnegie Hall New York, Paris Opera, Salzburg Festival). Further information can be found at https://new.siemens.com/global/en/company/sustainability/arts-program.html.