The 1st International Sibelius Conductors’ Competition was held in Helsinki from 14. - 18.5. 1995. A total of 250 applications with video recordings were received, surpassing all expectations. A Nordic panel of judges selected 22 competitors for the preliminary rounds.

The competition was judged by a distinguished international jury chaired by the competition’s artistic director, the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Other members were the conductors Paavo Berglund, Sir Edward Downes, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam and Franz Welser-Möst, Henry Fogel the executive director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Hugh Bean co-leader of the Philharmonia Orchestra, London.

The Jury decided not to award a first prize. The second prize, $12.000, was awarded to Mr Hirofumi Kurita. The third prize was shared jointly by Mr Jurjen Hempel and Dorian Wilson. Each of them received $7.500. A special prize of $10.000 for outstanding potential was awarded to Mr Michael Christie. In addition, a number of orchestras will be giving winners the opportunity to perform with them.

The participating orchestras were the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Finnish National Opera Orchestra. The Competition was held at Finlandia Hall and at the National Opera House.