About competition – Hrvatsko društvo gudačkih pedagoga

International String Competition Rudolf Matz is a respectable musical event held biennially with participants from all over the world and internationally most prominent musicians and music pedagogues as members of the jury (from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, the University of Texas, Art Academy in Vienna and Split, the UniversityFerenc Liszt in Budapest, etc.).

This competition, unique in the world made its popularity thanks to specific propositions – it is the only competition in Croatia, which is intended for violinists, violists, cellists and double bass players who are competing in the same category, whereby the emphasis is placed primarily in evaluating the quality of performance, music and talent, rather than on specific technical skills on each instrument as in other competitions. Another specificity is that there are no age categories – it is categorized by the years of learning the instrument.

After each category, the Jury members hold workshops with interested candidates. Alongside with a distinguished Jury,there is also the so-called “Children’s Jury” composed of children of each age category, but who play non-string instruments.

In addition to the competition itself there is a series of concerts of the members of the Jury and the laureats in many Croatian cities (Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Osijek, Rijeka, Gospic …)

The competition was established in, when it started as a small cello competition designed for the youngest. Thanks to its characteristics and the special atmosphere of the competition it is becoming every year more and more popular. So, in 2006. the Competition moved to Dubrovnik, has grown to an international level and expanded to the violinists and violists. In the 2010 Competition there were around 70 candidates from 12 countries.

From 2013. Competition is held in Čakovec.