This year's edition of the Carl Nielsen International Competition has opened and is now underway! As well as the three categories - violin, flute and clarinet, the three instruments for which Nielsen wrote concertos - all contestants are this year invited to participate in Espansiva!, a parallel programme of mentoring, coaching and networking created to help prepare participants for their future careers.

It's hoped that the creativity and atmosphere Espansiva! will foster will also be evident in the music-making over the coming days - and that's something you'll be able to see for yourself, as from the semi-final rounds onwards all performances will be available to watch live at the competition's website, where familiar faces from Gramophone, Editor-in-Chief James Jolly and writer and reviewer Andrew Mellor, will be among those offering commentary. Then from Friday April 8 you'll be able to watch the finals live here at Gramophone's website.

The most recent edition of the competition - 2019 - produced a trio of superb winner, including flautist Joséphine Olech, clarinettist Blaz Sparovec and violinist Johan Dalene (whose recording of the Nielsen and Sibelius concertos on BIS is an Editor's Choice in our current issue). So to get yourself prepared for this year's music-making, here's another chance to watch Johan Dalene's prize-winning performance of the Carl Nielsen Violin Concerto from 2019.

Gramophone is a media partner of the 2022 Carl Nielsen Competition