Residential Emerges as a Major Development Sector Since its inception, the MÁV Symphony Orchestra has been a key professional partner and the resident ensemble of the event, which was founded in 2014 by Italy’s Artes Association in corporation with the Hungarian orchestra. The competition is organized in partnership with the Carlo Felice Opera in Genoa, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre National in Cannes, and its jury is made up of renowned conductors, institutional leaders, and artistic directors from the international music world.
The competition’s first edition in 2014 drew 128 participants from five continents. The second incarnation, in 2018, received 220 applications, while 2021 reached a peak of 350 aspiring conductors from all over the world.
To ensure the contest could be open to as many candidates as possible, the fourth edition this year introduced an elimination phase during the summer in three locations in America and Europe. Countries represented include Azerbaijan, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, France, Germany, Hungary (two participants) Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Slovenia, Spain, Taiwan, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United States and Venezuela.
According to György Lendvai, managing director of the MÁV Symphony Orchestra, the competition is both a tribute to Hungarian musical tradition and a bridge to the international professional community. Established in memory of the Bartók–Pásztory prize winning Hungarian conductor and composer Antal Dodáti (1906-1988), the competition is one of the most presitigious for young conductors, with the winners receiving both monetary prizes and the opportunity to hold the baton in some of the world’s leading concert halls.
Saturday, Oct. 18 will be the public semifinal, with the final on Sunday at 6 p.m. take place the final in the Grand Hall of the Italian Cultural Institute in Budapest, where the three finalists will conduct the orchestra, each performing a work drawn by lot.
The chairman of the jury is Italian star conductor Antonello Allemandi, with the vice chairman Hungary’s György Győriványi Ráth, the former music director of the Opera of Nice, the Hungarian State Opera, and the Orchestra of the Budapest Philharmonic Society.
The official competition website can be found at antaldoraticompetition.com, while tickets for the event are available on the official website of the MÁV Symphony Orchestra at mavzenekar.hu/en
Antal Dodáti studied at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music alongside Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, and Leó Weiner. After spending several years at the Hungarian State Opera House, he went on to enjoy an impressive international career, conducting outstanding ensembles in many European countries, including the Russian Ballet in Monte Carlo. He was principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of October 17, 2025.
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