ASO CONCERTO COMPETITION

Atlantic Symphony Orchestra is proud to sponsor its annual concerto competition for young classical artists. Launched in 2005, the goal of the competition is to identify gifted young classical musicians and encourage their professional advancement while providing an opportunity to perform with a professional symphony orchestra.

The participants will compete for a total cash prize of $2,000. In addition, the first prize winner will be invited to perform a complete concerto with Atlantic Symphony Orchestra during the following season. The second prize winner will appear as a soloist in ASO's chamber concert. The competition is open to all orchestral instrumentalists (no piano for 2010) between the ages of 18 and 30. The applicants must select a standard classical concerto and prepare the entire work by memory for the competition.

The ASO Concerto Competition is organized in three stages. After the competition committee reviews the submitted applications in the first round, the invited applicants will be asked to perform their repertoire without accompaniment in a closed blind audition. For those invited to the third and final round, the musicians will perform in front of a live audience for a separate panel of distinguished judges. In addition to the music director of Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, jurors for the final round have included: Leslie Parnas, cellist; Ludovic Morlot, conductor; Steven Ledbetter, musicologist; Larry Wolfe, bassist; Anthony Fogg, artistic administrator of Boston Symphony Orchestra. The 2010 jurors are Tony Beadle, bassist and arts administrator, and Eric Rosenblith, violinist.

Application for the 2011 competition will be made available in September.