The season is open: Welcome to the "Jugend musiziert" competition 2020

Germany's biggest music competition for children and young people is entering a new round. If you would like to take part, you have until Friday 15 November to apply. That's when the registration deadline ends. The "Jugend musiziert" competition will then start in January 2020, with regional competitions taking place in more than 170 regions in Germany and Europe. All children and young people who would like to showcase their musical skills as soloists or in an ensemble on a public stage and in front of a jury are invited to take part. "Jugend musiziert" offers different solo and ensemble categories every year, and the audition programme consists of music from different eras. Depending on age and category, the competition audition in front of the jury lasts between 6 and 30 minutes.

In 2020, you can apply in the solo categories: Piano, harp, vocals, drum set (pop) and guitar (pop), and the ensemble categories: Wind Ensemble, String Ensemble, Accordion Chamber Music and New Music. Music schools or www.jugend-musiziert.org can provide information on the conditions of participation.

The Chemnitz region includes the Kreismusikschule im Kulturellen Bildungsbetrieb Erzgebirgskreis, the Musikschule Mittelsachsen and the Städtische Musikschule Chemnitz. The main organisation and main venue for the 2020 regional competition is the Chemnitz Municipal Music School. The organisational and financial responsibility for the annual competition in the city and greater Chemnitz area rotates between the Central Saxony Music School, the Erzgebirgskreis District Music School and the Chemnitz City Music School. In this way - as the organisers have also planned - the
regional competition "Jugend musiziert" will be recognised and acknowledged far beyond the region.

The Chemnitz regional competition will take place from 31 January to 2 February 2020 at the following locations Piano solo, solo singing and wind ensemble at the Chemnitz Municipal Music School, accordion chamber music at the Flöha Music School, string ensembles at the Zschopau location and drum set (pop) at the Annaberg location of the Erzgebirgskreis District Music School.

Music is played for points and prizes. Participants will receive a certificate documenting the number of points achieved. Those who receive at least 23 out of a maximum of 25 points in the regional competition and are older than ten years will take part in the state competition in March. The state competition in Saxony will take place from 20 to 22 and 27 to 29 March 2020 in Zwickau. The points system for assessing musical and artistic performance applies to all three competition levels. This means that anyone who scores at least 23 points at state level and is at least 12 years old will be among those invited to the national competition in Freiburg from 28 May to 4 June as 1st prize winners from all federal states.

The "Jugend musiziert" competition enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide. Almost one million children and young people have taken part since 1964. There are "alumni" in every professional German orchestra and a significant number of today's internationally renowned musicians gained their first stage experience at "Jugend musiziert". "Jugend musiziert" aims to encourage people to make music together, offer musicians a stage for musical comparison and enable them to be judged by an expert jury. In addition to the musical competition, it is also about bringing together young music enthusiasts.

"Jugend musiziert" is open to school pupils, trainees, young professionals and students who are not in a musical vocational training programme.

The German Music Council, the state music councils, public music schools, associations and private individuals ensure the organisational implementation. The federal, state and local governments and numerous other private and public sponsors provide the necessary funding. The savings banks, as the largest single sponsor from the business world, have also been involved in "Jugend musiziert" from the very beginning and support the competition for young talent at all levels of the competition.