Young Artist Competition

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild presents the 2020-2021 Stella Boyle Smith Young Artist Competition, a statewide talent competition for Piano, Strings, Woodwinds, and Brass.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild awards the following cash prizes:

Preliminary:
$250 to the winner in each of the four categories

Final:
$750 First Place
$500 Second Place

Download the application form here.

Download the rules and procedures here.

Application Deadline

April 10, 2021

Eligibility

Contestants must be residents of the state of Arkansas and between the ages of 12 and 18. Contestants may not reach their 19th birthdays by May 8, 2021, and must be in a middle school, junior high, or high school program.

Application Procedure

The preliminary audition must be received no later than April 24, 2021. Please send performance videos to Robert Fitzgerald, Stella Boyle Smith Competition Co-Chair at bjfitz1995@gmail.com. Videos of a high performance quality should be uploaded to a streaming platform such as YouTube or Vimeo, and a link sent to the email address above. Videos can be left "unlisted" for privacy. Please remember that the videos must be recorded with good lighting so that the judges can see your entire stance, all of the instrument and hands, and for strings, the entire bow and bow hold.

Finals will be via ZOOM on May 8, 2021.

Selections must be a movement of a composition for solo instrument and orchestra from the standard repertoire. Compositions must be performed with a piano reduction of the orchestral score.

THE MUSIC MUST BE PERFORMED FROM MEMORY.

Contestants are required to provide their own pianists to perform orchestra reductions.

Mail the application and a non-refundable $25 check made payable to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild to:

Stella Boyle Smith Young Artist Competition
Jeanne Fitzgerald
54 Montagne Ct
Little Rock, AR 72223