THE VENERANDA FABBRICA DEL DUOMO DI MILANO, CASA RICORDI AND FESTIVAL MITO SETTEMBREMUSICA FOR YOUNG TALENTS 

Milan, May 16, 2013 - Just a few weeks to go to the closing of the First International Sacred Music Composition Competition, organized by the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano together with Casa Ricordi and Festival MITO SettembreMusica, in celebration of the 1700 years of the Edict of Constantine.

In the words of St. Augustine, “those who sing, pray twice.”   Indeed, music has always been the highest and universal language with which man tries to communicate with the Divine: a sensitivity that does not stop at purely aesthetic taste, but is much more.

The Competition - whose deadline for entries is set for May 31, 2013 - is open to composers from around the world who in 2013 are still under 40 and involves the composition of a piece of sacred music for orchestra, solos and choirs.
The winner, in addition to receiving a cash prize, will see their score published by Casa Ricordi. The first world performance of the winning piece will be during the grand concert that will be held on September 18^th in the Duomo of Milan, with the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Milan, directed by Ruben Jais, for the 7^th edition of Festival MITO SettembreMusica.

The highly international Judging Committee will include George Benjamin, Azio Corghi, Luis de Pablo, Fabio Vacchi, the Artistic Director of MITO SettembreMusica Enzo Restagno and by the Duomo Choir-Master Father Claudio Burgio. The name of the winner will be announced by the end of July.

“The International Sacred Music Composition Competition, through the language of Faith and Music, reasserts the centrality of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo and its cultural production within Europe” – are the words of the President of the Veneranda Fabbrica, Prof. Angelo Caloia.

Music, in fact, accompanies the great events of history and contemporary times and, through harmony, expresses a social need for unanimity.
Those who compose sacred music today cannot not start from the Edict of Constantine, the universal symbol of freedom for every person that rises from the power of the Christian message. It is a powerful sign of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano and its Musical Chapel: since Franchino Gaffurio, Johann Christian Bach, Gianandrea Fioroni, Carlo Monza, Marziano Perosi and many others who have contributed to making this artistic experience great, the life of the Cathedral has been accompanied by the voice of song and by the sound of its Great Organ.

The Duomo’s Musical Chapel, the oldest school in Europe – established in 1402 – has been uninterruptedly active for over six centuries. Its music contributes to the Music Collection of the precious Archives of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, a wealth that will be made entirely available in all its beauty with the grand opening following refurbishment scheduled for November 4, 2013, with scores and works of extraordinary rarity, making it a unique example of the cultural scene of Milan and the world.