International Conducting Competition Rotterdam’s 2021 Finale

Watch exciting footage of the competition’s inaugural 2021/22 edition winner!

The semi-finals for this year's edition of the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam (ICCR) are fast approaching, and will take place from June 17 to June 19, 2024.

24 young conductors have been selected to take part, and from these the jury will select six "designated winners" — who will participate in a year-long career development program comprising two academy weeks, workshops, coaching, and PR support.

These six conductors will then take part in the full ICCR finals in June 2025, and as part of this they will conduct five different orchestras.

Open to international conductors aged between 22 and 30, the 2021/2022 Grand Prize of €15,000 was awarded to the UK conductor Bertie Baigent.

The six 2021/22 designate winners were Carlos Ágreda (Colombia), Bertie Baigent (UK), Martijn Dendievel (Belgium), Chloe Rooke (UK), Joel Sandelson (UK), and Luis Toro Araya (Chile).

They were each given the opportunity to conduct the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Rotterdam Symphony Chorus, Sinfonia Rotterdam, Doelen Ensemble, and the Orchestra of the 18th Century.

In anticipation of the 2024/25 competition, enjoy this footage of the 2021 final round, which was streamed live on The Violin Channel.

Alongside his Grand Prize win, Baigent also received the €7,500 Classical Music Award and the €7,500 Great Symphonic Works prize. After his successes at ICCR, Baigent was announced in 2022 as the new assistant of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, working closely with Lahav Shani. ​Baigent currently serves as music director of the Waterperry Opera Festival.

For ICCR’s 2024/25 edition, the first-round jury comprised Sian Edwards, Ara Guzelimian, Ulrike Niehoff, Ed Spanjaard, Elmar Weingarten, and George Wiegel, who viewed the performances of all 175 candidates from 54 countries. The 24 semi-finalists to perform with the Sinfonia Rotterdam this month, can be viewed here.