A TIME TO JUDGE
As the World Federation of International Music Competitions celebrates its 60th anniversary, we take a look at its history
Cold War clashes, the chaos of colonial conflicts and existential fears about life in a nuclear age inspired the launch of a raft of transnational organisations in the 1950s. The World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) sprang to life in Geneva in 1957, 11 like-minded groups from both sides of the Iron Curtain convening to bring nations and individuals together through music. The Federation’s founder members included the Geneva International Music Competition, the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels, Warsaw’s International Chopin Piano Competition, the Prague Spring International Music Festival and the Budapest International Music Competition. Over the past 60 years, its constituency has followed the arc of globalisation to encompass competitions on six continents and in almost 40 countries. Today’s WFIMC supports, promotes and endorses the work of a total of 120 classical music and jazz competitions. Its mission, to
set and maintain the highest artistic standards, is driven by a desire to contribute to ‘the vibrancy of the music world by representing leading international music competitions and supporting them with valuable services and guidelines’. While most Federation competitions are based in Europe – with Germany, Italy and France collectively accounting for 36 members – the organisation extends its wide geographical reach to embrace competitions in Australia, the Americas, Asia and South Africa. Japan presently boasts ten member organisations, while China’s five stands on par with Poland, Spain and Switzerland. The WFIMC’S members provide a wealth of opportunities for young pianists and string players, together with contests open to everyone from composers, conductors and singers to organists, harpists, percussionists and string quartets. Federation competitions cater for most orchestral instruments and just about the full range of musical disciplines. Above all, they seek to promote excellence in performance and cultivate the diverse skills required to communicate with a wide audience While the proliferation of music competitions in recent years has reduced the stock value of prize-winning status, laureates of WFIMC events inevitably attract the music profession’s close attention. Many Federation members now offer competition winners career mentoring packages or coveted management deals. They are also striving to bridge the gap between the hothouse environment of music college and the increasingly tough demands of life as a professional musician. The Federation, which continues to grow in scale and scope, is set to evolve under a new governance structure, comprising a seven-strong board elected from within and by the organisation’s membership. It intends to develop the physical and online audience for classical music and jazz and tap into the genuine human interest in the competition process. And it is determined to bring forward the next generation of performers with care for their professional progress and consideration for their personal development.