“An post-war and Soviet-era formula has often been used to train young musicians during musical competitions: train musicians as if they were Olympic athletes, ignoring that musicians are above all artists.” Violinist and conductor Alexandre Da Costa does not mince words when it comes to highlighting the shortfalls of international competitions. Da Costa believes that these competitions are heavily centred on technical performance, eclipsing artistic and human dimensions. These generally shape the awarded musicians’ international career. “Most winners of these international competitions play at a high technical level,” said Da Costa, winner of many national and international awards, including the…