The curtain is raised for RING AWARD 17: Donizetti s Don Pasquale at its Centre

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1 Much is new at the Competition for Stage Direction and Design in Graz The curtain is raised for RING AWARD 17: Donizetti s Don Pasquale at its Centre With the announcement of this year s competition opera, the RING AWARD 17, 8 th International Competition for Stage Direction and Design in Graz, was officially opened. This time it pivots around Gaetano Donizetti the task for 2017 is to develop a detailed stage concept for the first act of Don Pasquale. Again, directors and designers, aged under 35, who have not yet staged an independent production at a major opera house, can participate in the competition. As a new development, the RING AWARD, which is well-known in the international context, is expected to become more firmly rooted in its home region, the Province of Styria, as well. This eighth edition of the RING AWARD is characterized by a number of new features over its predecessors. Intendant Heinz Weyringer: Our RING AWARD and Theatre Juries now consist of about a half new members, and an Honorary Presidium has been newly created, which consists of former, long-serving jury members. In addition to the regular three finals A teams, this time three finals B teams will be selected, whose conceptions will also be presented at the finals. And the new initiative called RING AWARD on Tour will more firmly root the competition in the region and make it accessible to a wider public audience. Participants from almost 50 Nations More than 1000 young artists from 49 nations have so far participated in the seven RING AWARD competitions since As still the only institution of its kind worldwide, we offer young artists an opportunity of reflecting the current developments in staging works of the musical theatre and give them a chance to find international resonance for their views of the musical theatre today, says Weyringer. The RING AWARD is an initiative of Wagner Forum Graz in collaboration with Bühnen Graz and cooperating with the Department of Stage Design at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts Graz.

2 As before, the RING AWARD bestows young artists, who form production teams of one stage director and one stage designer each, several prizes: the Ring Award, the Prize of the Province of Styria, the Prize of the City of Graz, the Honorary Presidium s Award, and Audience Prizes. Furthermore, several theatres and opera houses will sponsor special prizes in the form of commissions for stagings (direction and design). The Competition Opera Don Pasquale The choice of the competition opera 2017 is explained by board member Professor Walter Bernhart: Don Pasquale is one of the greatest masterpieces of comic opera and offers to the contestants complex challenges for its stage realization of a kind the RING AWARD has so far not seen. The opera is a transitional work, partly a classical comedy of stage types in the tradition of opera buffa and in the spirit of commedia dell arte, partly a strongly individualized social comedy representing historically developing bourgeois values. In this work of early realistic musical theatre the characters already show psychological differentiation and a high human potential, so that the comedic elements of a farce-like plot are ingeniously combined with sentimental, even serious elements. The winner of the RING AWARD 17 is identified in a three-step selection process (first selection, semifinals, finals; see schedule below). Heinz Weyringer: The semifinals teams are expected to develop detailed stage conceptions for the first act of Don Pasquale with appropriate sets using conventional methods (models 1:20) and, optionally, additional electronic means. Three of the nine semifinals teams can enter the finals and realize stage productions. It is the task for the final RING AWARD teams to prepare within eight days a stage performance of the first act of Don Pasquale with the singers and musical accompaniment in the appropriate set or sets. The performances take place at Schauspielhaus Graz before a public audience and the juries. RING AWARD 14 had 91 teams of 196 participants from 29 nations. Heinz Weyringer: It is our aim for 2017 to reach a three-digit number of participating teams.

3 Opinions on the RING AWARD Christian Buchmann, Cultural Minister of Styria: The RING AWARD is a unique competition worldwide. It offers young artists a platform to present their works to a wide public audience. Winners have often launched a successful career at internationally renowned opera houses. Yet the RING AWARD is also of great importance to Graz and Styria as it makes internationally known the richness of the artistic and cultural life in our country! Siegfried Nagl, Mayor of the City of Graz: The works of Richard Wagner are among the most frequently performed operas. Why is our interest in the person and his works so constant? The depiction of human virtues and vices through heroes, the compelling power of his key motives, and the genuine creation of his word-and-music language have fascinated generations of opera-goers. The Wagner Forum has meanwhile become an internationally most distinguished institution, and with the RING AWARD, Graz contributes also to the future of opera. Thanks to everyone responsible for this extraordinary cultural commitment! Lisa Rücker, Cultural Councillor of the City of Graz: The RING AWARD stands for the encouragement of young talents in the musical theatre on a high level. The competition s claim to be innovative, contemporary and reflective in following the developments of the musical theatre is again and again accounted for by its internationality and its top-class juries. I look forward to numerous exciting submissions. Bernhard Rinner, Intendant, Bühnen Graz: The RING AWARD is an irreplaceable factor for creativity in stage direction and design. This is shown in the fact that general directors from all over Europe travel here for this competition in order to find out about the most talented young artists on the market. Heinz Weyringer s idea of establishing such a competition for stage direction and design, instead of another singing competition, is of very high value. Nora Schmid, Intendant, Oper Graz: The RING AWARD is a wonderful platform for young directors. Nowhere else can they develop their ideas under professional conditions and present them to a large audience of interested specialists. The numerous teams that found their first engagements through the RING AWARD show how important this competition is for keeping the international world of opera alive.

4 Iris Laufenberg, Intendant, Schauspielhaus Graz: The RING AWARD resonates far beyond Graz and links us up with the international theatre world. For almost twenty years now this competition has been of great value to the opera scene, and for us drama people its fringe programme also offers a welcome stimulation to occupy ourselves with the most recent initiatives in the world of the musical theatre. I look forward to welcoming as their host at Schauspielhaus Graz the young production teams who compete in the RING AWARD 17. Verena Stoiber und Sophia Schneider, winners of RING AWARD 14: To gain a foothold in the world of opera is not so easy for young production teams because most opera houses first want to see a production before they hire them. The RING AWARD offers young artists working for the musical theatre an opportunity to show in practical terms how they want to tell a story, and at the same time creates a frame, unique in the world, for presenting their concepts to an expert audience and top-class juries. Winning the RING AWARD 14 has given us the chance of working in our profession and of realizing many splendid projects at very good opera houses. Schedule RING AWARD Nov official announcement of the competition opera Don Pasquale 8 Aug submission deadline from 7 Sep first jury evaluation 13/14 Jan semifinals 14 Jan public presentation at Montagehalle Oper Graz Jun finals at Schauspielhaus Graz RING AWARD Jury (decides on the Ring Award and the Prize of the Province of Styria) Nora Schmid Intendant, Oper Graz, chair Peter de Caluwe Directeur Général, La Monnaie/Du Munt, Brussels Serge Dorny Directeur Général, Opéra de Lyon Roland Geyer Intendant, Theater an der Wien Peter Konwitschny stage director Dietmar Schwarz Intendant, Deutsche Oper Berlin Michael Simon set designer and stage director

5 Peter Spuhler Generalintendant, Staatstheater Karlsruhe Albrecht Thiemann»Opernwelt«Jossi Wieler Intendant, Staatsoper Stuttgart Theatre Jury (decides on the Prize of the City of Graz) Iris Laufenberg Intendant, Schauspielhaus Graz, chair Ole Wiggo Bang Intendant, Wermland Opera, Karlstad Aviel Cahn Intendant, Opera Vlaanderen, Antwerpen/Gent Valérie Chevalier-Delacour Directrice Générale, Opéra national de Montpellier Per Boye Hansen Den Norske Opera & Ballett, Oslo Michael Klügl Intendant, Staatsoper Hannover Hein Mulders Intendant, Aalto-Musiktheater and Philharmonie Essen Benedikt von Peter designated Intendant, Luzerner Theater Martin Schüler Intendant, Staatstheater Cottbus Peter Theiler Intendant, Staatstheater Nürnberg