Guildhall Krebs Harpsichord Competition 2025
Guildhall Krebs Harpsichord Competition 2025
The Guildhall School of Music & Drama is delighted to invite harpsichord students in higher education (or on a gap year between higher education programmes) to submit entries for the Guildhall Krebs Harpsichord Competition 2025.
The final of the competition will take place in the School's Milton Court Concert Hall on 28 September 2025 with a first prize of £1000. The warm acoustic of the hall is noted for its ability to celebrate every nuance of the harpsichord.
A jury of distinguished professors from the Guildhall School will be joined by noted Krebs interpreter Steven Devine, whose six-disc survey of the composer's complete harpsichord music has reached its penultimate volume.
Requirements
- Round 1. A video recording of own choice repertoire, with a maximum duration of 10 minutes. This repertoire may or may not include the music of Johann Ludwig Krebs.
- Round 2. Krebs in his context. A 30-minute recital, performed live in Milton Court Concert Hall. The recital should include a minimum of 15 minutes of harpsichord (not organ) music by Johann Ludwig Krebs. The rest of the programme should showcase the musicians who influenced or were in competition with Krebs.
Entry and closing date
Please enter and submit your Round 1 recording using this form. The closing date for entries is 29 August 2025, 5pm. Candidates selected for the second round will be informed by the end of 5 September.
Accordion
The School are indebted to the generosity of Andrew and Mary Watson in endowing this competition, and to Andrew's evangelism of the music of Johann Ludwig Krebs. Andrew is the driving force behind a forthcoming book on Krebs, to be co-edited by Dr Penelope Cave and Professor Wiebke Thormählen, the first major study of the composer in English. Despite the reputation of Krebs – Bach's favoured student – in Thuringia, many of his works have been overshadowed by his master, or swept into organ lofts where the music's value remained indisputable if less publicly pronounced. The book will place Krebs in the changing aesthetic ideals of mid-18th century Thuringia, considering music alongside personal diaries, letters, and literature.
- The Competition will be held on Sunday 28 September 2024 at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
- The Competition is open to students currently registered in higher education and students taking a gap year between undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
- To enter, candidates will need to submit a video recording of up to 10 minutes of their own choice of repertoire.
- Entries should be made by 5pm on 29 August 2025.
- Members of the jury will select a maximum of five entries to perform in the second, final round.
- Successful candidates will be informed by the end of 5 September 2025.
- Candidates performing in the final round will present a 30-minute recital of which at least 15 minutes must be harpsichord (not organ) music by Johann Ludwig Krebs. The rest of the programme should showcase the musicians who influenced or were in competition with Krebs.
- The jury will consist of Steven Devine and professors of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
- One prize of £1000 may be awarded by the jury.
- The jury's decision, announced on the day of the competition, is final.
