Bamberg Symphony Orchestra: Italian Giuseppe Mengoli wins 7th Mahler Conducting Competition

Giuseppe Mengoli has won THE MAHLER COMPETITION 2023 of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Mengoli thus secured prize money of 30,000 euros ahead of second-place winner Japanese-American Taichi Fukumura and German Georg Köhler. New this year was the additional prize for "Best Conducting of Contemporary Composition," awarded to American Kevin Fitzgerald.

The repertoire of the competition, which took place in Bamberg from July 7 to 13, included Gustav Mahler's 7th Symphony, as well as works by Haydn, Deutsch, Berg and Stravinsky. The sold-out final concert of the competition took place on July 15, with the winner on the podium of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, as well as baritone Thomas Hampson.

More candidates than ever before applied for the 2023 competition: with 350 valid applications and almost 20% women, both trends were clearly upward. 16 conductors and 4 female conductors were selected and invited to Bamberg. THE MAHLER COMPETITION was founded by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and its then principal conductor Jonathan Nott in 2004 and takes place every three years. The high-caliber international jury was also even broader this year, with 15 members, and was once again made up of a wide variety of members of the classical music world.

Jakub Hrůša, jury president and principal conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, said of the winner: "Giuseppe Mengoli gave an absolutely convincing performance in all rounds, with a perfect combination of knowledge of the score and an extraordinarily natural feeling for music. He has a distinct ability to inspire the musicians and the audience alike through his musical language, which speaks directly to the hearts of the listeners."