Hugo Kauder Competition '09

It’s not very often that a young musician gets the chance to premiere a piece written half a century ago by a prolific European composer. But this September at the Hugo Kauder Society’s Fifth Annual International Music Competition, ten talented finalists—oboists, clarinetists, and flutists—will showcase Hugo Kauder’s musical works, several of which are being publicly performed for the first time. Kauder, a mid 20th-century Viennese composer, is being celebrated today as an artist who penned beautiful, lush works. This was rare at a time when the music of the Romantic Era was being cast aside to make way for the atonal minimalism of the mid 20th-century.

The Kauder Competition is a great opportunity for the finalists, who hail from all over the world and who come from prestigious music schools such as the Yale School of Music, The Juilliard School, and the Eastman School of Music. The Competition’s live final round will be held on September 11 at Neighborhood Music School from 9 AM to 6 PM. Admission is free. The winners will be decided by three esteemed judges: Doris Goltzer, the solo English Hornist of the New York City Opera for fifty-one years; Jeanne Baxtresser, Solo Flutist of the New York Philharmonic; and Richard Stoltzman, a two-time Grammy Award winner and one of today's most sought-after concert artists. On September 12, a Winners Concert will take place at Firehouse 12 in New Haven from 2-4 PM. The first place winner will receive $4000 as well as a NYC performance opportunity. The second and third place winners will receive $2000 and $1000 respectively.

So check it out- It’s a rare opportunity to attend a premiere of non-contemporary pieces, and it’s looking like this year’s Kauder Competition will be fantastic.

--Cynthia, Arts Council Intern