November 24 - conference summarizing the third stage
The last press conference was held on November 24, 2023, summarizing the final stage of the competition. The competition studio was run by Agnieszka Nowok-Zych, editor of Polish Radio Katowice, and Adam Rozlach, music journalist of Program I of Polish Radio. The guest of the competition studio was Bartosz Witkowski, editor of Ruch Muzyczny. Experts characterized each of the finalists.
Adam Rozlach said about Maria Fuller that she did everything right and was able to maintain the tension. Her very nice conducting with beautiful gestures made a good impression. Bartosz Witkowski talked about another finalist, Sukjong Kim, who was a big surprise for him in the final. The editor of Ruch Muzyczny drew attention to the problem with verbalization of ideas that appeared in her performances in the previous stages. In his opinion, she was a revelation in the finale because she opened up to the orchestra and focused on details. The next participant that Bartosz Witkowski talked about was Mikhail Mering. In his opinion, what sets it apart is its watchmaking precision. The editor of Ruch Muzyczny said that the Finnish representative Joonas Pitkänen was very specific in his remarks and very precise in his gestures. He was also one of the most experienced participants in the competition. Adam Rozlach noticed that Sergey Simakov was one of those conductors who performed slightly less spectacularly in the final than in the previous stages. However, his conducting style showed that he was no stranger to the art of conducting. The last participant Adam Rozlach talked about was Jong-Jie Yin. In his opinion, he worked very hard on details and was good at it. He also noted his economical movements, which he had mentioned in the previous stages.
After the talks in the competition studio, it was time for the long-awaited press conference, where we learned the competition winner. The first to speak was the Director of the Silesian Philharmonic, Adam Wesołowski, who began by thanking the jury, the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra, all employees of the Silesian Philharmonic and the competition partners. The results were presented by jury chairman Patrick Fournillier.
Winner of the 11th International Conductors’ Competition. Grzegorz Fitelberg became Jong-Jie Yin, representative of China. Second place went to Sergey Simakov from Germany. Mikhail Mering received the bronze baton. The remaining three finalists received equivalent awards.
Photo by: Karol Fatyga
