Stella Boyle Smith Young Artist Competition

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild annually presents the Stella Boyle Smith Trust Young Artist Competition, a statewide talent competition for young musicians between the ages of 12 and 18, performing music on piano, strings, woodwinds and brass.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild awards the following cash prizes:

$1000

Grand Prize

$250

Qualified Winner in Each of the
Instrumental Categories

Application Deadline

March 9, 2024

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 April 15, 2024, and must be in a middle school, junior high or high school program.

Preliminary Audition Procedure

The preliminary audition must be received no later than March 23, 2024. Please send performance videos to Camille Williams, Stella Boyle Smith Trust Competition Co-Chair at cbwbooks@gmail.com.

Videos of high-performance quality should be uploaded to a streaming platform such as YouTube or Vimeo, as well as 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, the full instrument and both hands and for strings, the entire bow and bow hold.

Finals will be LIVE on April 13, 2024, at the UALR Campus in Little Rock.

Selections must be a movement of a composition for solo instrument and orchestra from the standard repertoire. Selections 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 pianist to perform orchestra reductions.

Mail the application and a non-refundable $30 check made payable to ASOG, postmarked or received by April 8, to:

Camille Williams, chair
Stella Boyle Smith Trust Young Artist Competition
55 Robinwood Dr
Little Rock, AR 72227
(501) 690-1194

More Information

Beth Robison, Director of Education and Community Engagement
Arkansas Symphony Orchestra
brobison@arkansassymphony.org