Gerhard Schedl Contemporary Opera Award
of the BNP Paribas Foundation

In early May of 2009, BNP Paribas Foundation, the music publisher Doblinger and Neue Oper Wien presented:

the Gerhard Schedl Contemporary Opera Award
of BNP Paribas Foundation
An international opera competition of Neue Oper Wien.

At stake was a three-part award, consisting of a monetary prize in the amount of EUR 25,000, publication of the victorious work by Doblinger, and a world première performance of the same by Neue Oper Wien.

The competition's submission deadline was in mid-October of 2009.

The music theatre competition attracted over 60 domestic and foreign submissions from places including Europe, South America, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Russia and the USA: Most participants were under the age of 31, with the youngest composer/librettist team even being just 15 and 14 years of age! The field was dominated by submissions from male participants. The percentage of women among the librettists was 27%—far higher than among the composers, where women accounted for just 19%.

The jury, consisting of Johannes Erath, Christian Gangneron, Detlev Glanert, Paul Griffiths, Mag. Hannes Heher, Dr. Peter Keuschnig, Walter Kobéra, Dr. Birgit Meyer and Dr. Angela Pachovsky, convened in mid-November and selected the following work as the competition’s winning entry:

Bruder Woyzeck-Traumfalle [Brother Woyzeck – Dream Trap] (working title)
by the German composer Markus Lehmann-Horn,
whose libretto is based on a novel by Prof. Dr. Michael Schneider.

During the coming year, final versions of both the composition and the libretto must be completed. The work is to be given its world première in Vienna by Neue Oper Wien during its 2011/2012 season. A cooperative agreement with a foreign opera house is also currently in preparation.