The World Music Contest Championships has announced details of its Conductor Contest which will form part of its 2022 event in Kerkrade.

Applications are now open to take part in the competition that will take place between the 13th-20th July 2022.

Worldwide

24 candidates from the worldwide application process will be selected to receive an invitation for the event. The winner of the 'Golden Baton' will be decided during the final concert on Wednesday July 20th, where three finalists will conduct during the Gala Concert at the impressive Roda Hall.

The Conductors Contest has proven to be an important stepping stone in the career of young conductors, as Björn Bus, General Artistic Manager at WMC told 4BR: "We are continuing this longstanding tradition.

During previous WMC editions the conductors course and contest were integrated.
We have decided to organize the contest separately from the course again, to split the educational part from the competitive component."

For the first time, participants will have the opportunity to only work with professional ensembles and bandsWMC

Professional ensembles

He revealed that the WMC will be collaborating with the Association of Conductors & Instructors (BvOI) to organise the contest.

He added: "For the first time, participants will have the opportunity to only work with professional ensembles and bands such as the Helicon Wind Ensemble (NL), the Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Air Force (BE) and the Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy (NL)."

Registration details

Registration details can be found at: www.wmc.nl/en/participate/conductors-contest

Using this portal, participants can upload all required information. Registration closes on March 1st, 2022.