The International Composition Competition "2 Agosto" is a major composition competition in Italy. It was established in 1994 at the behest of the Association of the families of the victims of the massacre at Bologna Station on August 2, 1980.
The competition was created with the aim of keeping alive the memory of the victims, but at the same time to overcome the concept of mere commemoration, turning the day of August 2 in a creative and artistic response to the act of terrorism.
The competition is held under the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic and promoted by the "Committee in Support of Victims of Massacres", composed by the Municipality of Bologna, the Province of Bologna, the Emilia Romagna Region and the City of San Benedetto Val di Sambro.
The competition Since the first edition, the Competition takes place free of charge. No enrollment fees or contributions of any kind are required from any participant. The competition is open to young people around the world with rules that can change from one edition to another, but the age limit is usually placed at 35.
The competition announcement usually comes early in the year and all who want to participate are invited to send their score via computer within a predetermined deadline. The theme and type of works in the contest change from year to year.
The winners will see their work performed live in Piazza Maggiore in Bologna on the evening of August 2, as the final event of the commemorations of the Massacre.
The Grand Final Concert is recorded by the cameras of RAI, which deals with the television and radio broadcasting.
Jury The jury varies each year, but since 1994, there are many famous names who have succeeded in the role of President.
Some examples: Riccardo Muti, Ennio Morricone, Michelangelo Zurletti, Riccardo Chailly, Semyon Bychkov, Eliot Fisk, Federico Mondelci, Robert Beaser, Tania Leon, Michel Portal, Jacob Ter Veldhuis, Jesus Villa Rojo, Aurelio Samorì, Marco Tutino, Klaus Ager, Detlev Glanert, Domenico Nordio, Jesus Rueda, Gianvincenzo Cresta, etc.
Organizing Committee The Organizing Committee of the Competition August 2 consists of:
Stefano Cuppi – President Maurizio Guermandi – Organiser - Marketing & Communication Chiara Monetti – Consultant
Pieces commissioned Pieces commissioned by the International Composing Competition “2 agosto” from 1995 to now:
Marco Betta: Orizzonte, aria for violin and orchestra. Soloist: Cristiano Rossi Sergio Rendine: Exultate, for voices and orchestra. Soloists: Fausta Vetere and Antonio Romano Luis de Pablo: Vendaval, for symphonic orchestra Carlo Boccadoro: Why?, for violin, piano and orchestra. Soloists: Cristiano Rossi and Danilo Perez Danilo Pérez: Panamerican suite, for vibraphone, piano and orchestra. Soloists: Gary Burton and Danilo Perez Carlo Pedini: Le strade di Torquato, for percussions Ennio Morricone: Non devi dimenticare, for reciting voice, soprano and orchestra Giovanni Sollima: Guitar Chemistry, for electric guitar and orchestra Larry Coryell: Sentenza del cuore, for two electric guitars and orchestra. Soloists: Larry Coryell, Al Di Meola Leni Stern: I see your face, for voice, choir and orchestra. Lyrics by Leni Stern. Soloist: Leni Stern Michael Brecker: African Skies (orchestration by Gil Goldstein), for tenor saxophone, choir and orchestra. Soloist: Michael Brecker John Psathas: Omnifenix, for tenor saxophone and orchestra. Soloist: Michael Brecker Fabrizio De Rossi Re: Slow Dance, for accordion and orchestra. Soloist: Ivano Battiston Tania Leòn: Horizons, for symphonic orchestra Françoise Choveaux: Fantasie Op. 122, for clarinet and orchestra. Soloist: Guido Arbonelli Michel Portal: Histoire de vent (orchestrations by Marco Biscarini and Daniele Furlati), for clarinet and orchestra. Soloist: Michel Portal Uri Caine: In memoriam, for piano solo. Soloist: Uri Caine Paolo Fresu: Venticinque anni dopo (orchestrations by Fabrizio Festa), for trumpet and orchestra. Soloists: Paolo Fresu, Cristina Zavalloni Fabrizio Festa: Clandestino, for voice, trumpet and orchestra. Soloists: Cristina Zavalloni, Paolo Fresu Nicola Campogrande: Absolut, new version for cello, electric bass and orchestra. Soloists: Robert Cohen, Angelo Liziero Lorenzo Ferrero: 2 Agosto. Prima variazione, part of Varizioni su un tema di Banchieri per organo e orchestra. Soloist: Roberto Marini Gianvincenzo Cresta: A Miriam. Con la punta delle dita, part of Varizioni su un tema di Banchieri per organo e orchestra. Soloist: Roberto Marini Alberto Colla: Ricordo, part of Varizioni su un tema di Banchieri per organo e orchestra. Soloist: Roberto Marini Bryan Johanson: Fresco, part of Varizioni su un tema di Banchieri per organo e orchestra. Soloist: Roberto Marini Tatsuji Toyozumi: Voices – Little Things Tomi Räisänen: Voices – Fortuna Favoris Pedro Ravares: Voices – Baião Simone Santini: Voices – La forza debole Michele Corcella: Raggi di un sogno nascente, for four ocarinas, clarinet, mandolin, fisarmonica, and ensemble synthesizers, electric guitar, bass guitar, drum kit) Roberto Molinelli: Zorn Hoffnung Gesang, for violin and orchestra. Soloist: Domenico Nordio Giovanni Di Giandomenico/Valentina Casesa/Roberto Prezioso/Giuseppe Ricotta/Giulia Tagliavia: Dedica – omaggio a Giuseppe Verdi, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, voice, baritone Claudio Lolli: Piazza Bella Piazza, arrangement and orchestration by Michele Corcella Cinzia Venturoli, Valerio Corzani and Fabrizio Festa: Resistenza Francesco Maggio: Di Morsi e Rimorsi Federico Torri, Benedetta Zamboni, Jacopo Aliboni: Tre per Tre
The Winners YearBoard of Judges1st Prize2nd Prize3rd Prize1995Riccardo Muti Salvatore Accardo
Alberto Caprioli
Azio Corghi
Fabrizio Festa
Tito Gotti
Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi
Hubert StuppnerFabio Nieder "Cinque pezzi per orchestra"Carlo Pedini "Il Cantico dei Cantici"Roberto Rusconi "Nel silenzio... dal profondo"1996Ennio Morricone
Luisa Castellani
Renato Rivolta
Claudio Scannavini
Alessandro Solbiati
Walter Tortoreto
Fabrizio FestaAlberto Colla "Pax"Angelo Inglese "...Etenim si ego pax..."Nicola Ciarmatori "...Efferas Feras..."1997Renee Jonker Giuliano Carmignola
Riccardo Chailly
Fabrizio Festa
Jerzy Maksymiuk
Michelangelo ZurlettiMassimiliano Messieri "Virus"Luca Belcastro "La speranza si torce"Alessandra Corbelli "Piccolo concerto n.1"1998Semyon Bychkov
Leonid Klinitchev
Renee Jonker
Danilo Grassi
Carlo Galante
Vincenzo Palermo
Fabrizio FestaThomas Ingoldsby "Lamentations and celebrations"Paolo Coggiola "Lo specchio di Nigromontanus"Giovanni Bonato "Worposs Passacaglia"1999Eliot Fisk
Tomaso Lama
Giovanni Sollima
Gimpierro Martirani
Matteo D'Amico
Fabrizio FestaChristos Papgeorgiou "Airocklinos"Dragana Jovanovich "AB RE 1999"Ronald MacNiven "Conflicts and Resolutions"2000John Psathas
Federico Mondelci
Carlo Pedini
Fabrizio FestaMarco Biscarini "Solo per questa notte: 2 agosto"Premio Rossano "Umore"Mirko Guerini "Peace #3"2001Robert Beaser
Ada Gentile
Dragana Jovanovich
Ivano Battiston
Fabrizio De Rossi Re
Richard Galliano
Fabrizio FestaPino Iodice "The last station"Marco Biscarini "Da lontano... adagioShigeru Kan-No "Semi-concerto grosso"2002Tania León
Salvatore Accardo
Barbara Doll
Kamran Khancheh
Paolo Maragoni
Aurelio Samorì
Fabrizio FestaDaniele Gasparini "Il violino invisibile"Tomi Raisanen "Nomad"Shaun Christopher Bracey "From tragedy to hope"2003Michel Portal
Françoise Choveaux
Jesus Villa-Rojo
Dimitri Nicolau
Guido Arbonelli
Fabrizio FestaAndrea Manzoli "Concertante da voci"Anthony Suter "Slipping slowly into the sky"Hiroaki Tokuanga "Clarinettissimo"2004Jacob ter Veldhuis
Nuno Guedes De Campos
Berislav Šipuš
Enrico Cocco
Francesco Di Mauro
Fabrizio FestaTatsuji Toyozumi "Radiation"Vito Palumbo "Movimento I"ex aequo:
George Dulin "Scene from a Living Dream"
and Eddy Serafini2005Jesus Villa-Rojo
Dimitri Nicolau
Gianvincenzo Cresta
Wing-Wah Chan
Ivano AscariTakahiro SakumaEddy SerafiniMirko Guerrini2006Aurelio Samorì
Mario Ancillotti
Filippo Bulfamante
Bryan Johanson
Riccardo Piacentini
Fabrizio FestaFederico Cumar "Papageno made me write this piece"Flauto ed Orchestra "Burlesca concertante"Giancarlo Scarvaglieri "Mozart meets me"2007Marco Tutino
Filippo Bulfamante
Nicola Campogrande
Bryan Johanson
Peter Athony Monk
Francesco Pepicelli
Fabrizio FestaAndrea Nosari "Long lod road"Adriana Isabel Figueroa Manas "Aire de tango"Simone Santini "Il rito dell'inverno"2008Claus Ager
Henri-Claude Fantapié
Tomi Räisänen
Per Rundberg
Gianvincenzo Cresta
Massimiliano Messieri
Fabrizio FestaJavier Farias "Cante la Tierra"Alejandro Marco Gomez Lopera "La danza de la tierra"Daniel Basford "Concertante Suite"2009Tania León
Thüring Bräm
Osman Gioia
Detlev Glanert
Gianni Nazzareno Francia
Massimo Priori
Fabrizio FestaAmirhossein Eslami Mirabadi Parsi “Memorial of Ferdowsi”Michele Corcella “Solennemente e intensamente”Anton Tanonov "Severing winter”2010Ennio Morricone Fabrizio Festa
Thüring Bräm
Luca Cori
Angelo Inglese
Massimo PrioriAndrej Goricar “Ex Anima”Ryosuke Karaki “The Bird That Aspires To The Moon”Ulziibayar Shatar “Variations aTokkata On A Mongolian Folk Song2011Detlev Glanert Fabrizio Festa
Silvia Colasanti
Antonio Tinelli
Davide Masarati
Zaid Jabri
Annelies Van ParysAdriano Gaglianello “Rapsodia concertante”Antonio Casagrande“Diabolical Machine”Davide Fensi “Risorgimenta(l) Variatio”2012Domenico Nordio Fabrizio Festa
Andrej Goricar
Amir Eslami
Annelies Van Paris
Roberto Molinelli
Gianvincenzo CrestaMartin Kennedy “Depending Upon the Light”Zhenzhen Zhang “The 2nd of AugustEdward Top “My Skeletonized Portrait”2013Jesús Rueda Dragana Jovanovich
Virginia Guastella
Andrej Goričar
Alfredo RugelesIlya Demutsky "The closing statement of the accused"Zaid Jabri "Les Temps des Pierres"Scott M. Ninmer "Silvan Spirits"2014Gianvincenzo Cresta Gillian Anderson Virginia Guastella
Victoria Harmandjieva
Tomi RäisänenBeniamin Baczewski "Le Spectre Rouge"Kyle Hnedak "Atticus"Matthieu Lechowski "Duel at Schrapnell"2015Fabrizio de Rossi Re (Italia) - President Barbara Rettagliati (Svizzera)
Marco Taralli (Italia)
Victoria Harmandjieva (Svizzera/Bulgaria)
Fabrizio Festa (Italia) - Artistic DirectorVahid Jahandari "The Checkered City"Paolo Cognetti "Mare Monstrum, Verso Luce"Alvand Jalali Jafari "The red apple of the sun"2016Nicola Sani (Italy) - President Francesco Nappa (Italy)
Günay Mirzayeva (Azerbaijan)
Girolamo Deraco (Italy)
Fabrizio Festa (Italy) - Artistic DirectorAlessio Manega "Sincretesi Prima"Giuseppe Ricotta "Quattro Fauni in Fuga dal Tempo”Matthieu Lechowski"Le Grillage" 2017Marco Betta (Italy) - President Alessandro Castelli (Italy) Andrea Portera (Italy) Enzo Filippetti (Italy) Ivano Battiston (Italy) Fabrizio Festa (Italy) - Artistic DirectorMohammad Amin Sharifi“TrombionOphone or Riders in the Field of Hope"Paolo Cognetti “C(y|ir)cles. In cerca della a-dualità”Lorenzo Fiorentini “J-Rhapsody"2018Barbara Rettagliati (Italy) - President Angelo Valori (Italy)
Mario Rosini (Italy)
Michele Corcella (Italy)
Fabrizio Festa (Italy)Mozhgan Chahian "Elegy for the Peace"Ilia Skibinsky "The Road"Alessandro Papaianni "Fantasia Sinfonica n.4"2019Alessandro Solbiati (Italy) – President Yoichi Sugiyama (Japan)
Javier Torres Maldonado (Mexico)
Fulvio Macciardi (Italy)
Clara Iannotta (Italy)Luca Ricci "Transitori Permanenti"Carmelo Bongiovanni "Colors"Lin Sen "Autumn"2020Alessandro Solbiati (Italy) – President Beat Furrer (Austria)
Silvia Colasanti (Italy)
Michele dall'Ongaro (Italy)
Bruno Mantovani (France)Danilo Comitini "Resa al labirinto" "Ariadne’s thread"Simone CardiniAncorato "Ancorato, proteso, diffratto – per orchestra"2021Ivan Fedele (Italy) – President Marco Angius (Italy)
Claudio Ambrosini (Italy)
Unsuk Chin (Korea)