No ARD music competition this year
The ARD International Music Competition from August 31 to September 18, 2020 will not take place. The competition for flute, trombone, string quartet and piano will be postponed to 2022.
Even a two-time extension of the registration deadline could not save this year's edition. According to the ARD press release, it is completely uncertain whether the candidates and jury members will be able to travel by the end of August - but given the international nature of this competition with participants from countless countries on four continents, this is an absolute prerequisite.
The subject combination for this year's competition (flute, trombone, string quartet and piano) will be postponed to the 71st edition of the competition (August 29 - September 16, 2022). This year's applicants will then be able to register again, even if they have already exceeded the age limit for 2020 by then - a one-off goodwill arrangement due to the extraordinary situation.
The annual festival of ARD prizewinners, which has been taking place since 2001, with 14 concerts in southern Germany from May 9 to 23, 2020, also has to be canceled. As an alternative, prizewinners from previous years will perform a studio concert without an audience at Bayerischer Rundfunk on Monday, May 25, 2020, which will be broadcast live on BR-KLASSIK radio and in a video stream at br-klassik.de/concert from 8.05 pm.