Keen professional interest accompanies the Éva Marton International Singing Competition

For the first time since 2019 due to the pandemic, the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC), which has over 110 outstanding events as members, held its General Assembly’s session live.

Among the competitions of Liszt Academy, the Éva Marton International Singing Competition became an elected member by the General Assembly in 2019, and now the Bartók World Competition, which takes place every year in six-year cycles, has been taken in as a member as well.

The WFIMC, founded in 1957 and based in Geneva, includes, among others, the Mozart Competition in Salzburg, the Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition and Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna, and the Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, the Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, the Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Texas, the Long-Thibaud Competition in Paris, the Arturo Toscanini Conducting Competition in Parma and the Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht.

András Csonka, Programme Director of the Liszt Academy and project leader of both its international competitions, attended the general assembly in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He has stressed that the WFIMC stands out among similar organisations in that it places great emphasis on discussing professional issues and finding real solutions.

András Csonka has said that the event was accompanied by a keen professional interest in the Éva Marton International Singing Competition, which will be held for the fifth time this September at the Liszt Academy. He added that had a special place at the protocol dinner, and he also had direct discussions with WFIMC President Peter Paul Kainrath and Secretary General Florian Riemer, as well as with the delegates, on professional issues related to the organisation and promotion of the event. András Csonka negotiated with representatives of the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition in Helsinki, the Moniuszko Competition in Warsaw and the German ARD Competition, among others, mainly on the pandemic situation, the managing process of the Marton Competition, recruitment techniques and communication with the general public.

He has also mentioned that one of the key issues discussed at the current event was contestants’ country of origin, i.e. how to register and refer to a person born in one country, studying for years in a second country and now living and working in a third country with a residence permit. The answer to this question, concerning a very common circumstance in competitions, is still being discussed.