Winners of the Winds Composition Contest Saxony

In 2023, the Dresdner Bläserphilharmonie e.V. organised a composition competition for wind music – the Winds Composition Contest Saxony (WCCS) – in cooperation with SHE LIVES, the leading European association for the dissemination of contemporary music, for the second time. On 22 November 2023, the online award ceremony took place, where the jury decided on the three winners of the competition. They were chosen by the jury out of 95 works by 75 composers from 20 countries. Amongst the works handed in, there have been many great compositions. That’s why the committee decided to give an award “Special mention” to some other composers next to the winners.

The winners are:

• 1st prize: “Frenzy” by Thiemo Kraas
• 2nd prize: “Unease” by Luke Flynn
• 3rd prize: “This is not a Passacaglia” by Luis Carvalho

The winning pieces “Frenzy” and “Unease” will be performed by the Dresdner Bläserphilharmonie in March 2024 under the baton of Andrea Barizza in three concerts, one of them in the Kulturpalast Dresden.

The Special Mentions go to:

• “Bagatelle per quintetto di fiati” by Massimo di Paola
• “Concertino for Blue Birds” by Marco Agostinelli
• “Beneath the Crypt” by Justin Gruber

In 2022, the Dresdner Bläserphilharmonie e.V. organised a composition competition for wind music – the Winds Composition Contest Saxony (WCCS) – in cooperation with SHE LIVES, the leading European association for the dissemination of contemporary music, for the first time. On 09 November 2022, the online award ceremony took place, where the jury decided on the three winners of the competition. They were chosen by the jury out of about 90 works by about 70 composers from more than 20 countries. Amongst the works handed in, there have been many great compositions. That’s why the committee decided to give an award “Special mention” to some other composers next to the winners.

The winners are:

• 1st prize: “We Seven” by Derek Jenkins
• 2nd prize: “Musica Ignota” by Ingrid Stölzel
• 3rd prize: “Typhoon” by Thorsten Wollmann

The winning piece “We Seven” was performed by the Dresdner Bläserphilharmonie in March 2023 under the baton of Andrea Barizza in three concerts, one of them in the Kulturpalast Dresden. In July 2023, the Dresdner Bläserphilharmonie played also the work “Typhoon”. The piece by Ingrid Stölzel – “Musica Ignota” – will be performed by the Civica Filarmonica Lugano, the orchestra of Franco Cesarini.

The Special Mentions go to:

• “Two Movements for Ensemble” by Nikolas Agrafiotis
• “Mondriaan” by Johan de Meij
• “Stroboscope” by Vincent Portes
• “Camden” by James R. Speake