Ring Award
RING AWARD – International Competition for Stage Direction and Design in Graz
More than ten years ago, in 1997, the WAGNER FORUM GRAZ, led by Heinz Weyringer and Walter Bernhart, developed the idea of organizing a competition in the field of the musical theatre, but a competition which, different from most others in the field, would not concentrate on the musical side of works but focus on stage direction and stage design. This idea was inspired by the fact that contemporary practice puts remarkable weight on these two features of theatrical production, which have the greatest potential of innovation in the musical theatre today.
From the outset it has been the most distinctive feature of the RING AWARD that, at the finals, actual performances take place on a large stage and that, accordingly, not only conceptions are submitted for assessment, but contestants are judged by their capacity for producing live realizations of their conceptions. It is this real-life aspect of the RING AWARD which turns it into a unique event – also from the viewpoint of audience experience – but, at the same time, also into a daunting financial challenge. It is an invaluable advantage and needs to be most gratefully acknowledged that the public authorities of the Province of Styria and the City of Graz have early on recognized the unique position of the RING AWARD in the arts world and have been willing to support it generously as a significant instrument for encouraging young artists on an international scale. Yet it would be impossible to operate the RING AWARD without the very active participation – in cooperation with the WAGNER FORUM GRAZ – of BÜHNEN GRAZ, the official local theatre organization with all its subdivisions, and the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.
In line with the forward-looking orientation of the competition, it comprises a special experimental branch (ring.award.off), in addition to its standard branch geared towards productions at traditional opera houses. “ring.award.off” is a testing ground for the latest technological and aesthetic developments and their application in the world of the musical theatre. All submissions in both branches are put to rigorous assessment by several juries, which are composed of internationally leading theatre directors, stage directors and stage designers. The most important and ultimate aim of the RING AWARD, namely, to enable the winners to launch a successful artistic career, has in many cases been achieved during the last ten years, and this was made possible largely through contacts of the young artists with jury members and their networks.
The RING AWARD has so far seen five runs, with a constant increase in numbers of participating contestants and nations, in 2008 holding at 158 participants from 22 nations. On account of its origin in the WAGNER FORUM GRAZ, the first two competitions (1997 and 2000) were based on works by Richard Wagner, the Rhinemaidens scene from Rheingold and the second act of Parsifal, respectively. Later themes were the Antonia act of Contes d’Hoffmann (2002), the second act of Le nozze di Figaro (2005), and the last act of Rigoletto (2008). The latest competition, with its finals coming up in June 2011, is based on Die Fledermaus (The Bat). Thus the contestants have been faced with a wide range of musico-theatrical challenges, and in future it may widen even more.
A quantified confirmation of the need of a competition on such a singular scale is given by the fact that so far 682 young artists from 40 different nations have participated in it.
It is particularly deserving of thanks that from the very beginning the RING AWARD has been supported by the Richard Wagner Verband International, under the direction of Josef Lienhart (until 2009) – he is now its Honorary President – and Professor Eva Märtson, recently elected current President. An invaluable contribution has been made in all five runs so far by the teams of singers, who came from a remarkably high number of European Wagner societies (from Helsinki, Hannover and Magdeburg repeatedly, and from Venice, London, Budapest, St. Petersburg and Munich). By sponsoring these musical teams the Richard Wagner Verband International makes its own significant contribution to the promotion of young artists in the field of the musical theatre.
Each time at the competition it is a suspenseful and impatiently expected event when enthusiastic theatre lovers flock together for the workshop-like semifinals at the assembly hall of the Graz Opera House, and again later for the great finals at the Graz Schauspielhaus and other sites. The audience follows the judging process by the juries with great interest and sympathy, and they also cast their own vote, which is afterwards hotly discussed. The very individual creative work done by the contestants stimulates lively debates among the audience and seems to rouse their own creative powers. The intensity of confrontation in an elated atmosphere is a special mark of the RING AWARD, likely caused by an awareness that at this smithy of talents energies are produced which will effectively shape the future of the musical theatre.
Heinz Weyringer
Intendant, RING AWARD
Chairman, WAGNER FORUM GRAZ
Vice-President, Richard Wagner Verband International
6th International Competition for Stage Direction and Design
From 2009 to 2011, for the sixth time the International Competition for Stage Direction and Design will be held in Graz, Austria.
After a series of operas as topics of the competition, it is for the first time that participants in the Ring Award 11 will face the challenge of an operetta: "Die Fledermaus" ("The Bat") by Johann Strauß, Jr.The Competition Opening on 27 November 2009 follows the motto: “The Bite of the Bat”.
As before, the competition will offer young artists – who form production teams of one stage director and one stage designer each – an opportunity to subject themselves to the verdict of acknowledged international experts. Again several prizes will be awarded: apart from those awarded by the Ring Award Jury, a Theatre Jury will decide on a separate prize, and several theatres or opera houses will give commissions for stagings (direction and design). This competition is still the only one of its kind worldwide reflecting the most recent developments in the art of staging musical theatre and giving young artists the chance of finding international resonance for their views of what musical theatre should be like today. In addition to the main branch for realising productions in a traditional framework, Ring Award 11, as in previous competitions, offers an optional experimental branch: "ring.award.off".
