From the History of the International Competitions of Blind and Partially Sighted Musicians and Composers

The idea to organize a performance competition for the blind and partially sighted arose first in connection with the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Conservatoire for Visually Impaired Youth in Prague, and the first competition took place in 1973. The success of the competition helped the school to emphasize the great significance of music for the blind and partially sighted, both as part of their general art education and as preparation for the profession of music teachers.

The competition was originally only the school's internal activity, but it brought about a number of important positive results, which encouraged the idea of developing the contest into a larger project. This idea incited interest in many professionals, who then cooperated with the school, functioning as jury members. The Conservatoire began to look for additional support in order to be able to organize further competitions. These efforts were successful and a new cultural tradition for blind and partially sighted musicians was born: at first only for singers and musicians - instrumentalists, later also for composers. Since the very beginning, the organizers of the competitions have aimed at emphasizing the professional development of the contestants and helped them create opportunities for their careers in music.

The First International Competition took place in Prague, August 1975. Thirty students of the Conservatoire and several graduates, the winners of the Competition's national round, were qualified to take part in it. Other contestants came from the organizations of visually impaired in Hungary, Poland and the former East Germany. Dr. Olga Boldocká presided over the jury.

The Second Year was held in 1978 and was attended also by contestants from the former USSR. The international jury consisted of representatives from Poland, Norway and the former USSR and was presided over again by Dr. Boldocká. The winners received monetary awards, provided by the Czech Music Fund. This organization has been providing financial prices for the winners since that time.

The Third Competition took place three years later as part of the activities of the International Year of the Disabled, which brought about greater interest in the Competition abroad.

The Fourth Year took place - for the first time - outside Prague. In March 1985, the local authorities and institutions of Mariánské Lázne (Marienbad), a spa town in Western Bohemia, created very favourable conditions for the Competition. The Competition consisted of three rounds and was attended by 24 musicians, out of which 7 were foreigners. A concert of the West Bohemian Symphonic Orchestra with the blind Japanese violinist Takayoshi Wanami as the soloist was a valuable addition to the Competition.

The Fifth Year of the Competition was held again in Mariánské Lázne, in 1988. This time it was dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Conservatoire for the Visually Impaired in Prague, a co-organizer of the Competition. The city of Mariánské Lázne adopted this Competition as its own and made it one of its international music festivals. The jury was presided over by Milan Etlík, professor of the music department of the Academy of Musical Arts.

The series of Competitions continued for a Sixth Year in 1991. This time the organizer was the association of the Blind and Partially Sighted of Czechoslovakia, that is, an independent organization of the Blind, for the first time in 40 years. The event was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, the Czech Music Fund, and number of other sponsors. The Association also received assistance from Olga Havlová´s Good Will Foundation. A beneficial concert in honour of the sponsors was held in the Knight Hall of Wallenstein Palace in Prague. This Year commemorated the 60th anniversary of the death of the Czech blind composer Stanislav Suda. His work was performed at this occasion, played by the West Bohemian Symphonic Orchestra, with the clarinettist Jan Budín, the winner of the First Year of the Competition, as the soloist. The level of the contestants was very evenly balanced and all of them had come very well prepared. The international jury was presided over by the senior lecturer of the musical department of the Academy of Musical Arts and outstanding pianist, Peter Toperczer.

The Seventh Year of the Competition was held at the end of February, 1994. It was initiated by the Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, but it was organized by the Czech Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted, supported by many sponsors, who contributed either financially or otherwise.

The Eighth Year of the Competition (1997) was organized by Czech Blind United and among the significant guests was Mr. John Wall, President of European Blind Union, from Great Britain. The international jury was presided over by Mr. Eliška, senior lecturer of the musical department of the Academy of Music Arts. The Competition was enriched by the participation of musicians from Taiwan - one of them, Ms. Hsu Ya-Hui, together with Mr. Vadim Titov from Russia, won the first prize.

Thanks to its continual progress, the Competition came to a crossroad when the small spa town Mariánské Lázne was too tight for it. After negotiations with the representatives of Jan Deyl Conservatoire and thanks to the fact that the Ninth Year of the Competition was held in the year 2000, when the institution, engaged in music education of blind and partially sighted, celebrated the 90th anniversary of its foundation, the Competition took place in Prague again. This outstanding event was included into the program of Prague culture life - European City of Culture 2000. An important event in the framework of the Ninth Year of the Competition was the concert of the West Bohemian Symphonic Orchestra from Marianské Lázne, which played an outstanding work composed by a blind composer. It was a world premiere of the Celtic Symphony by a Spanish blind composer Juan Besteiro. The concert was attended by the author and his Excellency the Ambassador of Spain and a delegation of ONCE, the Spanish organisation of the blind.

Czech Blind United also supports blind composers. The composers can submit their new works every third year prior to the year of the Musician's Competition. The Competitions for Composers are organized in such a way that they close on White Cane Day (October 15) in the year preceding the year of the Musician's Competition. World premiers of compositions evaluated as best by the jury of professionals are performed during the opening days of the Musician's Competition, in the presence of the awarded composers. The interest in the International Competition of Composers is steadily growing, particularly abroad, and all the awards given during the years of the Competition have gone to foreigners. The awards are provided by the Czech Music Fund. Eight years of the Competitions for Composers have been held so far: in 1978, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996 and 1999.

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