Thinking about and describing orchestral competitions

A critical and reflective look at selection processes

This project is part of a wide-ranging reflection on the dynamics of the professional integration of orchestral musicians that began in autumn 2014, when the Haute école de musique de Genève launched a series of quantitative and qualitative surveys around its Alumnis. One of the conclusions of this series of interviews was that orchestral competitions played a decisive role in the fulfilment of musicians' personal and professional trajectories. The main aim of this project is therefore to develop and deepen reflection on a selection process that is characteristic of entry into the career of a salaried performer: it will be based on a cross-disciplinary dialogue between all those involved in the field (applicants, jury members, teachers, students and institutional managers), with the aim of developing a method for describing and analysing orchestral competitions.

The main aim of this project is to achieve a better understanding of the selection process, whose artistic, social and economic issues have yet to be described and understood.

Project directed by Patrick Lehmann and Aurélien Poidevin

Film by Aurélien Poidevin