Download: Terms and Conditions

Building on the success of last year's competition we have expanded the format to include the music of Ernest Bloch as a special tribute of commemoration in his 50th Anniversary year.

The deadline for applications (including recordings) to be received is Midday, Friday 1st May 2009. By the end of May all candidates will be informed by email if they have made it to the semi-final stage. The finalists will be competing in July at the Royal College of Music.

You will be asked to play a prescribed classical composition, a piece of your choice, as well as an Israeli piece or a piece by Bloch.

1st Ernest Bloch Music Competition
List of pieces for your choice:
String quartet:
"In the Mountains" (1925): 5"
("Dusk"; "Rustic Dance")
"Night" (1925): 2"
"Paysages (Landscapes)" (1925): 6"
("North"; "Alpestre"; "Tongataboo")
"Preclude (Recueillement)" (1925): 3"
"Deux Pièces" (1938 and 1950): 8"

Piano trio:
"Three Nocturnes" (1924): 7"

Flute, viola and piano:
Concertino (1948): 8"

Flute and piano:
"Suite Modale" (1956): 12"
"Two Last Poems (Maybe...)" (1958): 13"

Trumpet and piano:
"Proclamation" (1955): 6"

Violin and piano:
"Abodah" (1929): 5"
"Baal Shem Suite" (1923): 12"
("Vidui"; "Nigun"; "Simchas Torah")
"Melody" (1929): 5"
"Nuit Exotique" (1924): 6"
"Suite Hebraïque" (1951): 12"
("Rapsodie"; "Processional"; "Affirmation")

Viola and piano:
"Suite Hebraïque" (1951): 12" (see above)
"Two Pieces" (1951): 6"
("Meditation"; "Processional")
Cello and piano:
"From Jewish Life" (1924): 7"
("Prayer"; "Supplication"; "Jewish Song")
"Meditation Hebraïque" (1924): 5"
"Nigun" (from "Baal Shem Suite": see above) (1947): 5"

Solo Voice and piano:
"Historiettes au Crepuscule" (mezzo-soprano) (1904): 10"
("Legende"; "Les Fleurs"; "Ronde"; "Complainte")
"Psalm 22" (contralto or baritone) (1914): 7"
"Two Psalms (137 and 114)" (1914): 12"

Two pianos:
"Scherzo Fantasque" (1948): 9"

Piano:
"Enfantines" (Ten pieces for children) (1923): 12"
"In the Night" (1922): 6"
"Nirvana" (1923): 6"
"Poems of the Sea" (1922): 11"

Unaccompanied Violin:
"Suite no.1" (1958): 10"
"Suite no.2" (1958): 11"

Unaccompanied Viola:
"Suite" (1958): 8"

Unaccompanied Cello:
"Suite no.1" (1956): 11"
"Suite no.3" (1957): 11"
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Terms & Conditions
Applicants, must be no more than 35 years of age(For the Bloch competition, all ages are welcome)
Applicants must submit a copy of their current (valid) passport/birth certificate to prove their age
Applicants must submit a copy of their current CV
Soloists must submit one high-resolution photograph of themselves, with instrument(s) (if applicable)
Groups must submit one high-resolution photograph of the group with instrument(s) (if applicable)
Fee £25 per person -- cheques should be made payable to: The Spiro Ark and marked on the reverse side "Israeli Music Competition"

Prizes
The first prize will be £1,000 and the opportunity to perform with the London International Orchestra.
The first prize for the Bloch competition will be £500 and an opportunity to participate during the Bloch Festival.
For further information including application and competition details, please contact:
The Spiro Ark's Tzavta Department
25-26 Enford Street
London
W1H 1DW
 020 7723 9991/7121

President: Lilian Hochhauser FRCM
Patron: Sir Sydney and Lady Lipworth
Patron: Dame Fanny Waterman DBE
Chairman: Sagi Hartov LRAM PGRAM MMUS FRAM (cellist, Director of the Spiro Ark's Tzavta)

Jurors currently include
Julian Dawes ARCM (composer)
Ruti Halvani B. Ed. (Music) (mezzo soprano)
Dr Malcolm Miller PhD (musicologist)
Sarah Aaronson (Director of the London International Orchestra),
Nigel Goldberg ARCM (violinist)
Paul De Keyser ARCM, LGSM (Violinist)
Benjamin Frith (Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition Gold Medalist 1989) (pianist)
Professor Malcolm Troup (Pianist)