The Musical America Guide To
February 2020 The Musical America Guide to Top COMPETITIONS Editor’s Note Compiling what is likely the most comprehensive Guide to Competitions available may seem like a straightforward task but, rest assured, it is not. The competitions we contact provide the usual information—application deadlines, eligibility rules, artistic disciplines, frequency, dates, fees, and more. But the application dates may not yet be set in stone (“late Spring 2022”), or the date has already passed but the competition has not (“December 3, 2019”/”June 3, 2020”), or the deadline has passed but can be stretched with a late fee attached, or maybe the applications are not even open yet. Additional variables: Is the competition national? International? Statewide? Continental? What about the jury members? Are any of them teachers and, if so, are their students allowed to compete? (That’s always a good one for discussion after the winners are announced.) Is there an equal number of men and women on the jury? Of performers and, say, general directors or other administrative types? Is the screening jury distinct from live/finals jury? Eligibility rules may seem straightforward, but the evidence indicates otherwise: In vocal competitions, the age range for men and women is different; the same can be said for multi-instrument contests. The hardest to categorize, both from an age and instrumental makeup, are the ensembles; in addition to the usual piano trio or string quartet, what about a group between five and nine pieces with no more than two pianos? Then there’s the ensemble age: some competitions set a youngest- and oldest-member age, others a median member age, others a sum of the parts.
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