The winner, Juilliard student Euan Shields, will now work as Sir Mark Elder’s assistant conductor at the Hallé
The second Siemens Hallé International Conductors Competition has announced its winner.
More than 200 conductors from six continents had applied to take part, and eight semi-finalists were selected for the three competition days, held at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall.
Of these eight, three candidates made it into the final on 14 March. Finalists guided the Hallé through four works by Mozart, Elgar, Sibelius and Stravinsky. This year’s finalists were put through their paces in front of an international audience. In a live voting session, the audience members then chose their favourites for recommendation to the panel.
The competition was won by Euan Shields, age 24, who is studying for a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting at the Juilliard School, New York. Euan’s prize is a two-year engagement as assistant conductor to Sir Mark Elder, the Hallé’s music director. He’ll also take over the directorship of the Hallé Youth Orchestra and will be offered numerous guest conducting appearances.
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‘It’s been a very intense few days of lots of music making and all of this is still resonating in my head,’ Euan said. ‘I’m so excited to get to know the entire family of the Hallé Orchestra and to learn as much as possible from the musicians of the Hallé – and I’m also very excited to take the Hallé Youth Orchestra on a really exciting musical journey over the course of two years.’
The first prize winner of the Siemens Hallé International Conductors Competition in 2020 was Delyana Lazarova, who has since conducted the likes of the NDR Radiophilharmonie, Kammerorchester Basel, Orchestre National de France and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.