Every year, after the competition is held and the selected pieces are announced, the winning works are released on a CD with the support of the Korourian family and under the supervision of the Yarava Music Group. The title of each CD is chosen based on the name of the first-place winning piece.
The second edition of the Iranian Electroacoustic Music Composition Competition, the Reza Korourian Award, will be held under different conditions.
According to the Public Relations Office of the Yarava Music Group, the second edition of the Iranian Electroacoustic Music Composition Competition, the Reza Korourian Award, is being held this year while Joachim Heintz (chair of the jury of the first edition of the competition) is participating in the event as one of the directors of the Yarava Music Group.
Mehdi Jalali, Artistic Director of the Yarava Music Group, stated that approximately four months have passed since the announcement and publication of the call for the second year of the Reza Korourian Electronic Music Competition, during which new developments have occurred that were not mentioned in the original call.
In Esfand of last year, Professor Joachim Heintz officially joined the Yarava Music Group as Director of the Electronic Music Department. As a first step, he promised to invite the first to third prize winners of the Reza Korourian Award to the University of Music, Drama and Media Hannover (Germany) to perform their works, in all years during which he serves as Head of the Electronic Music Department at that university.
This initiative was also carried out last year; however, due to the coincidence of the award ceremony with the Dastgah Festival (Iranian Art Festival in Hannover), the first to third prize winners of the first edition of the competition were invited to Germany and were able to attend both the performance day and the critical review session of the selected works at the University of Hannover. From this year onward, this opportunity will be officially added to the prizes for the first to third place winners. With an official invitation letter from the university, they will be able to obtain a German visa for the duration of their performances. The length of stay may vary depending on the university authorities’ decision and the agreement of the German embassy. The publication of the selected works, the competition trophy, and the cash prize will also continue as before.
Jalali added that the jury for the second edition of the competition has been selected by Joachim Heintz and, as in the previous year, their names will not be announced until the final results are released. This year as well, jurors from different countries have been chosen, with three judges from Iran, Germany, and Greece responsible for evaluating the competition.
Regarding the publication of the selected works from the first edition, he explained that numerous obstacles delayed the release of the CD for a long time. These issues have now been resolved and the conditions for publication are in place. The team is currently reviewing an appropriate release time, which will be announced as soon as it is finalized. Most likely, the CD from the first year will be unveiled during the award ceremony of the second edition.
This competition, which is intended to be held annually in honor of the innovative Iranian composer Reza Korourian, invites composers active in the field of electronic music—without age restrictions—to participate by submitting their works, with the aim of supporting electroacoustic music and promoting greater recognition of this genre in Iran.
The competition is organized by the Yarava Music Group, in cooperation with Contemporary Music Records, with financial and moral support from the Korourian family.
Translated from a Persian text originally published on May 27, 2017, on the former Yarava website.
