In the year dedicated to Dante, the Camerata Strumentale “Città di Prato” and the Florence Philharmonic Orchestra “La Filharmonie” has launched the International Composition Competition Dante700. The project aimed to stimulate and promote creative energies in the field of orchestral composition by focusing on the figure and poetry of Dante Alighieri.
The end of the project – to which 108 composers from all over the world participated – was celebrated on 1 October 2021, at the Politeama Theatre in Prato, with a concert during which the three finalist pieces of the competition were performed.
The first prize was awarded to the English composer David John Roche for his composition The waves I ride have never yet been crossed. The musician received a check for 5000 euros offered by the CR Firenze Foundation, in addition to the publication of the score in the Stilnovo series of Edizioni Curci of Milan, promoted by CIDIM – Italian National Music Committee.
In addition to the composition of the winner, the two promoting orchestras (the Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato and the Filharmonie Orchestra), conducted by Nima Keshavarzi, also performed the other two finalist pieces: Nachbild by Steven Heelein, composer of German origin, and Dantesca by Matteo Rubini, from Parma.
Commenting on his winning composition, David John Roche explained that “Dante maintains that his descriptions of Heaven will be insufficient, not so much because God is inexplicable, but because no one has undertaken that journey before him. The sound waves of my song represent the desire and the sense of closeness that one can feel towards God. But the more one imagines to have come closer, the more he discovers that in life he will not be able to truly get to know any God”.
By courtesy of CIDIM, it is possible to view the video of the concert at the link: