Competition or festival?
From March 31 to April 2, 2023, the Entrada of the 48th Swiss Youth Music Competition will take place in seven different locations in Switzerland. The Jazz & Pop Come Together and the live performances of the Composition and Free Space competitions will follow in the following weeks.
It is no easy task to distribute the thousands of registrations sensibly across the seven venues. The result is a three-day festival program in which the performers can measure themselves against each other and the audience is presented with a comprehensive showcase of their work. The 2023 venues - usually in cooperation with the local music school - are Arbon, Basel, Bern, Morges, Neuchâtel, Steinhausen and Winterthur.
Piano and guitar days
Apart from Bern, which is only hosting ten organists this year on Friday, March 31, piano recitals will take place at six of the seven locations, several times even in two rooms at the same time. A "piano day" usually lasts from 9.30 a.m. to around 4 p.m., including breaks. The programs of the recital days are arranged according to age categories. If you would like to immerse yourself in such a piano day, there are many different possibilities: The IV. Age category (*2003-2005) can be heard for one day on March 31 in Winterthur and on April 2 in Basel.
Auditions from category III (*2006-2008) can be heard on March 31 in Arbon, Neuchâtel and Steinhausen, on April 1 in Basel and Neuchâtel and on April 2 in Winterthur.
Category II (*2009-2011) can be experienced for one day on March 31 in Basel and Neuchâtel, on April 1 in Steinhausen and on April 1 and 2 in Neuchâtel. The youngest participants
(*2012-2015) will be performing in Basel on March 31, in Morges on April 1 and in Steinhausen and Winterthur on April 2.
One such day includes between 14 and 19 auditions. Further piano days with participants from more than one age category will take place on April 1 in Arbon, Basel and Winterthur and
on April 2 in Morges and Neuchâtel. After the piano, the guitar is the second most frequently chosen instrument. With the exception of Bern and Morges, extensive guitar recitals are also held in all locations.
Specialties
In addition to these "all-encompassing" instruments, the individual performance venues also have their own specialties: String duos perform in Arbon. In Morges, string ensembles and wind
duos, contemporary music in Neuchâtel and trumpet, string duos and ensembles in Steinhausen. Classical singing is on the program in Arbon, Neuchâtel and Steinhausen.
Program. The two largest audition venues are Basel (with early music, horn, euphonium and tuba, harp, recorder and percussion ensemble) and Winterthur (with trombone and
wind duos and ensembles).
The auditions are open to the public. They serve as performance training for the performers. All locations and times are listed in an overview at sjmw.ch/classica/places/ to find. You can enter and leave
the concert venues during the breaks.
The 2023 final
An actual exhibition of works and concerts by the prizewinners will take place from May 18 to 21 at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana in Lugano. The live performances of the "special disciplines" Free Space and Composition can also be seen and heard in Lugano on this weekend. The jazz and pop performances will take place on April 16 at the Kanzlei Club in Zurich
over the stage.
