The Second International Sibelius Conductors’ Competition was held in Helsinki on 14-18 May 2000. Applications were received from 175 would-be contestants in 38 countries. The Competition’s Artistic Director, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Orchestral Manager Ernest Fleischmann then studied the applicants’ videos and selected 28 competitors.

The Competition had a distinguished international jury consisting of Esa-Pekka Salonen (Chairman), Serge Dorny (Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra), Concertmaster Alexander Kerr, and conductors Lawrence Foster, Okko Kamu, Sakari Oramo and Jorma Panula.

The standard was, in the jury’s opinion, extremely high. This time there was a winner: Olari Elts. At the First International Sibelius Conductors’ Competition in 1995 no first prize was awarded; the jury felt that not one of the contestants satisfied the criteria for a winner of the Sibelius Conductors’ Competition. According to Esa-Pekka Salonen, the winner of the first prize must be a conductor of outstanding talent with the prospect of a great career. The jury of the second competition considered that the Estonian Olari Elts met these requirements.

The second prize went to Yasuo Shinozaki of Japan and the third to Stefan Solyom of Sweden. The prizes were worth $15,000, $12,000 and $10,000. Olari Elts was also offered several conducting engagements and, as a special prize, a masterclass with Jorma Panula and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. The special prize donated by the Sibelius Estate for a masterclass with Esa-Pekka Salonen went to Tao Fan of China, and the special prize of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE Radio 1 for an interpretation of contemporary repertoire was awarded to Tuomas Rousi of Finland.

The Competition was held at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki and the orchestras were the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The sponsors were Finnair, Nokia, Sonera and Veikkaus; funds were also provided by the City of Helsinki, the Ministry of Education, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation, the Wihuri Foundations, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Sibelius Estate.

The Competition was organised by the Association for the Development and Support of Young Conductors.