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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.
The RING AWARD is also supported by the International Association of the Wagner Societies. An invaluable contribution has been made in all previous runs so far by the teams of singers, who came from a remarkably high number of European Wagner Societies united in the International Association (from Helsinki, Hannover and Magdeburg repeatedly, and from Venice, London, Budapest, St. Petersburg and Munich). By sponsoring these musical teams the International Association of the Wagner Societies makes its own significant contribution to the promotion of young artists in the field of the musical theatre.
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