Cologne/Bonn, October 23, 2021: Martijn Dendievel (Belgium) is the first prize winner of the German Conducting Award 2021. Second place goes to Aivis Greters (Latvia) and third prize to Hangyul Chung (South Korea). During the final concert in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, an audience prize was also awarded to Hangyul Chung. The first prize is endowed with € 15,000 with € 10,000 being donated by the City of Cologne. Aivis Greters received the 2nd prize, which is endowed with 10,000 € and was donated by Ernsting Stiftung Alter Hof Herding. The 3rd prize of €5,000 goes to Hangyul Chung, donated by Ursula Lübbe Stiftung, among others. The Audience Prize of € 2,500 was donated by the International Kurt Masur-Institute; it will be awarded to Hangyul Chung. Among the orchestras and opera houses that have already confirmed engagements for a prize winner are the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, the Hof Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, the Cologne Opera, the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, the WDR Symphony Orchestra and the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra Reutlingen. The German Conductors' Prize (DDP) is an international competition for young conductors organized by the German Music Council in partnership with the Cologne Philharmonic, the Cologne Opera, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and the WDR Symphony Orchestra. From October 18 to 23, 2021, the competition was held in Cologne for the third time in this form. The prestigious award goes back to the prize of the Conductors' Forum, which was awarded for the first time in 1995 to an outstanding scholarship holder of the support program. The competition was accompanied by the media partner Westdeutscher Rundfunk - WDR 3; the concert was broadcast live on WDR 3. The German Conducting Award is unique in its requirements, as it takes equal account of the opera and concert genres in the repertoire and thus challenges the candidates' cross-genre skills. With a total of 32,500 euros in prize money and extensive additional support measures, it is considered one of the most highly endowed awards for conductors in Europe.   Members of the jury Markus Stenz (Chairman of the jury, conductor) Marc Albrecht (conductor) Martin Griebl (Solo trumpeter, WDR Sinfonieorchester) Ursula Maria Berg (1st concertmaster, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln) Louwrens Langevoort (Intendant Kölner Philharmonie, Manag. Director KölnMusik GmbH) Cristian Mǎcelaru (Chief Conductor WDR Sinfonieorchester) Dr. Birgit Meyer (Intendant Oper Köln) Stefan Fragner (Senior Artist Manager, Künstleragentur Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm) Kristiina Poska (conductor) Lucas Singer (Bass, Oper Köln) Final concert program Aivis Greters: Johannes Brahms: Tragische Ouvertüre d-Moll op. 81 Martijn Dendievel: Maurice Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin Hangyul Chung: Ludwig van Beethoven: Leonore-Ouvertüre Nr. 3 op. 72b Aivis Greters: Offenbach: Hoffmanns Erzählungen: Finale Antonia-Akt Martijn Dendievel: W. A. Mozart: Così fan tutte, Sextett „Alla bella Despinetta“ Hangyul Chung: Georges Bizet: Carmen, „Schmugglerquintett“ 1st prize winner conducts the encore: Richard Wagner: Fliegender Holländer, Ouvertüre Biographies of the award winners Martijn Dendievel (*1995, Belgien) Martijn Dendievel is a Belgian conductor. He is an assistant conductor with the Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen. In December 2018, he won first prize at the MDR Conducting Competition, followed by first prize and the Audience Award at the Louis Spohr Conducting Competition in Kassel in 2019. In May 2021, he also won the Conductor's Academy of the Tonhalle Orchestra. At the age of 14, he was accepted at the Brussels Conservatory, where he received a bachelor's degree in music theory. In 2014, Martijn moved to the HfM FRANZ LISZT in Weimar to study orchestral conducting with Prof. Nicolás Pasquet and Prof. Ekhart Wycik. He attended master classes with Bernard Haitink, Paavo Järvi and Iván Fischer. He has made guest appearances with the Belgian National Orchestra, the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Weimar. Furthermore, he has already conducted the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Bremen Philharmonic, among others. In December 2019, he celebrated his conducting debut at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Since 2018 he is a scholarship holder of the Forum Dirigieren.   Aivis Greters (*1993, Latvia) Latvian conductor Aivis Greters made his debut with the three main Latvian orchestras - the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga and Liepāja Symphony Orchestra - in the 2020/2021 season. In early 2021, Greters received The Grand Music Award in the category "Young artist of the year 2020". In June 2021, Aivis graduated from the Orchestral Conducting Department of the Latvian Academy of Music with Professor Mārtiņš Ozoliņš. He studied choral conducting at the Latvian Academy of Music from 2013-2017 and continued his education at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm in 2015-2016. Greters attended numerous master classes on Bach cantatas with Jörg-Peter Weigle, English Renaissance with Steven Layton, Mozart opera arias with Zbigniew Graca, orchestral conducting with Lutz Kohler, Ekhart Wycik and Alexander Polianichko. He also participated in the Järvi Academy 2019 and 2021. Hangyul Chung (*1991, South Korea) Hangyul Chung studies orchestral conducting at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts with Prof. Stefan Blunier, Prof. Cosima Sophia Osthoff and Joongbae Jee. Previously, he completed his bachelor's degree at Seoul National University, South Korea. In 2019, he was accepted into the Conducting Forum of the German Music Council. Master classes with Colin Metters, Ensemble Modern, Lutz Köhler, Ekhart Wycik, Sebastian Tewinkel, Elias Grandy and Pavel Baleff, among others, complemented his training. Hangyul Chung has performed with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the German State Philharmonic Orchestra Rhineland-Palatinate, the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra Reutlingen, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra, the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra Pforzheim and the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester.   More information German Conductors’ Award | Deutscher Dirigentenpreis The German Conductors’ Award (Deutscher Dirigentenpreis, DDP) is an international competition for young conductors organised by the Deutscher Musikrat (German Music Council) in partnership with the Kölner Philharmonie (Philharmonic Concert Hall Cologne), the Oper Köln (Cologne Opera), the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln (Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne) and the WDR Sinfonieorchester (Symphonic Orchestra of broadcasting station WDR). The prestigious award was awarded for the first time in 1995 as “Award of the Conductors' Forum” and since 2006 as “German Conductors’ Award” to an outstanding scholarship holder of the funding programme Conductors' Forum (Dirigentenforum). It is the result of an initiative of the Conductors' Forum, the Bad Homburg Castle Concerts (Bad Homburger Schlosskonzerte) and the BHF-Bank Foundation (BHF-Bank-Stiftung). For the first time in 2017, the competition was held internationally, attracting great media attention. Since then, the DDP has been accompanied in the media by the WDR broadcasting station – with its channel WDR 3 being the award’s cultural partner. The DDP equally takes the genres of opera and concert into consideration in the repertoire and thus demands cross-genre skills from the candidates. Two excellent orchestras, extraordinary singers and a first class concert hall are going to be at their disposal during the competition. With its prize money and other extensive support measures, the DDP is considered one of the most highly endowed awards for conductors in Europe. Conductors’ Forum | Forum Dirigieren The nationwide German support programme Conductors’ Forum targets future generations of conductors. With a view to prepare highly gifted young conductors for future leadership positions in the national and international music world, the programme organizes master classes, assistant positions and sponsored concerts for its scho¬larship holders. Above all, it is a forum throughout Germany allowing a continual dialogue between the young generation of conductors and renowned conducting personalities. The Conductors’ Forum is funded by the Federal Government Commis¬sioner for Culture and the Media.   German Music Council | Deutscher Musikrat The German Music Council (DMR) is committed to the interests of the 15 million people who make music in Germany and is the largest national umbrella organisation in the world for musical culture. It represents Germany’s 16 state music councils as well as approximately 100 organisations and umbrella associations of professional and amateur musicians. The Deutscher Musikrat e.V. in Berlin is an active participant in civil society, providing impulses for a vibrant musical life in constant dialogue with the German Parliament and Federal Government. The Deutscher Musikrat gGmbH in Bonn organises the DMR's thirteen long-term funding projects: Ensembles – Federal Youth Orchestra, Federal Youth Choir, Federal Jazz Orchestra; Competitions – Jugend musiziert, Jugend jazzt, German Music Competition, German Orchestra Competition, German Choir Competition; Promotion – Federal Jury for Young Artists’ Concerts, Conductors' Forum, Contemporary Music Promotion Projects, PopCamp; Service – German Music Information Centre (miz). The DMR was founded in 1953 and is the largest citizens' movement in the cultural sector. As a member of UNESCO, it is committed in its actions to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and is under the patronage of Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Contact: Deutscher Musikrat gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH Lisanne Wiegand – manager Forum Dirigieren Tel.: 0049 228 – 2091 142 wiegand@musikrat.de Deutscher Musikrat gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH Dr. Anke Steinbeck – press and public relations Tel.: 0049 228 – 2091 165 steinbeck@musikrat.de