Competition of the Elise Meyer Foundation

The Elise Meyer Foundation 's 2025 competition will be held again in spring 2025. In accordance with the founder's wishes, the competition is intended to honor and promote music students at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama who are particularly worthy of support. As in the past, the competition will be held in the categories of piano, strings, voice and wind instruments. The candidates will be heard in preliminary rounds and selected for participation in the final rounds according to the quality of their overall artistic performance, in which the prize winners will be determined.

Applicants must be enrolled in an artistic major at the HfMT in the relevant summer semester. Further details are regulated by the following conditions of participation and the guidelines for the awarding of prizes issued by the Board of the Elise Meyer Foundation.

The application is made via an application form on the university's website.

The application form must be completed in full (including account details - IBAN, piano accompanist and own, if applicable) and the required documents must be attached as PDF/JPEG files (tabular CV in German, photo, certificate of study, and the list of the prepared repertoire [program, see below] with details of the composers, works and duration of the individual movements).

Please note the following deadlines:

Applications by midnight on April 13, 2025 at the latest
(late applications will not be considered)

Preliminary rounds
They will take place for the individual subject groups:

Final rounds

Prizewinners' concert: June 15, 2025, 18:00 in the Laeiszhalle, small hall

Jury chairmen are for

• Singing: Prof. Geert Smits
• Piano: Prof. Hubert Rutkowski
• Strings: Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender
• Winds: Prof. Christian Kunert

Chairman of the jury in the final round: Sylvain Cambreling

Sylvain Cambreling will also award the possible special prize of a concert engagement with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.

The following repertoire (program) must be prepared:

1. Piano (up to 5 participants in the final round)
   Preliminary round (15 minutes): First movement of a classical sonata and a Chopin etude and, if applicable, a further piece of free choice
   -final round(30 minutes): a demanding work in a clearly modern tonal language, composed in the last 65 years, works of free choice from at least two epochs, pieces from the
   preliminary round may not be repeated.

2. Strings (up to 6 participants in the final round, up to three in each sub-category in case of division)
   - a complete classical work;
   - a complete solo sonata;
   - a complete concerto;
   - a contemporary work (demanding, clearly modern tonal language, composed in the last 65 years, i.e. for the 2025 competition from 1960)
   - In total, these four works must cover at least three epochs and must include a string instrument/piano duo work (sonata or comparable large-scale work).
   - Exception viola: a baroque work may be played instead of a classical work.
   Exception bass: the contemporary work must be a solo work; instead of "solo sonata" in the program, a work of your choice will be played
   - Preliminary round (15 min): everything except the contemporary piece
   - Final round (30 min.): the contemporary piece plus a selection from the entire program (which will be communicated to the candidates directly after the 1st round with the announcement of the finalists)

3. Winds: woodwind and brass (up to 8 candidates in the final round, up to 4 per sub-category if split)
   - Complete and demanding works from at least 2 epochs, solo or with piano (including concertos to be performed from memory) plus one work in a clearly modern musical language, composed in the last 65 years (for the 2025 competition from 1960)
   - At least one work must be performed from memory.
   - The total length should be at least 30 minutes for woodwinds and at least 20 minutes for brass.
   - Preliminary round and final round: Selection from the overall program, modern work obligatory in the final round

4. Singing: (up to 8 candidates in the final round, up to 4 in each sub-category if divided)
   - 3 opera arias or 2 opera arias and an operetta aria, whereby in each case an aria by Mozart is obligatory
   - 4 songs, whereby one by Franz Schubert is obligatory one oratorio aria by J.S. Bach or G.F. Händel; further oratorio arias by other composers are possible
   - a contemporary work (oratorio, song or opera) in a clearly new musical language, composed in the last 65 years (i.e. from 1960 for the 2025 competition) with a minimum length of 3 minutes.
   - All works (with the exception of modern works and oratorio arias) must be performed from memory. The program must contain pieces in at least 3 different languages, of which German and Italian are obligatory. The total length should be at least 40 minutes.
   - Preliminary round: A Schubert song and an opera aria by Mozart
   - Final round (20 minutes): Selection of works directly before the performance by the foundation board, obligatory contemporary work, oratorio, song, possibly other works

Elise Meyer Foundation
Dr. Bernhard Röttger, Chairman of the Board
Alter Wall 32, 20457 Hamburg
Tel: (040) 32 58 92 0
E-Mail: office[at]dres-roettger.de