German Conducting Award 2025: Public rehearsal

​» Detailed information on the repertoire in the competition rounds can be found on the Forum Dirigieren website.​

– Breaks at around 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. –

At the German Conducting Award, young conductors compete in both opera and concert conducting. 

During the week-long competition, the young talents have access to outstanding partners and a first-class concert hall in the form of the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, the WDR Sinfonie Orchester and the Cologne Opera Choir. Since 2017, the competition has been held at the Kölner Philharmonie, but the German Conducting Award has a much longer tradition: the prestigious award was first presented in 1995 as the  »Preis des Dirigentenforums«. In 2017, the competition took place in Cologne for the first time on an international scale and attracted considerable media attention.