Concerto Competitions

The San Jose Youth Symphony holds an annual Philharmonic Concerto Competition and a biannual Young Artist Competition in the spring.

Young Artist Concerto Competition

The biannual Young Artist competition is for advanced musicians from all over the Bay Area. The competition is open to all advanced musicians 15-19 years of age on the day of the competition. The winner will be featured in a solo performance with the Philharmonic Orchestra in one of the subscription concerts of the following season.

The next Young Artist Competition will take place in the 2008-2009 season. The Young Artist Competition guideline will be published during this season.

To enter the Young Artist Concerto Competition fill out an Young Artist Competition online application form. Alternately you may download a 2008 Concerto Competition application form in MS Word.

Philharmonic Concerto Competition

The Philharmonic Concerto Competition is open exclusively to Philharmonic orchestra members. A Member who graduates in the same year when the competition is held, are not allowed to participate. Winners of the Philharmonic Concerto Competition will perform in one of the subscription concerts of the following season.

It is not guaranteed that the winners will perform their entire concerto with the orchestra - depending on the length of their concerto and its instrumentation.

To enter the Philharmonic Concerto Competition fill out an Philharmonic Competition online application form. Alternately you may download a 2008 Concerto Competition application form in MS Word.

CONCERTO COMPETITION GUIDELINES

HOW TO APPLY:

Applications are being accepted from now until February 18, 2008.
The Concerto Competition will be held on Saturday April 5, 2008, 1pm-6pm at the Los Gatos United Methodist Church, located at 111 Church St. Los Gatos, CA 95030.

To enter the Concerto Competition fill out a Concerto Competition online application form at our web site www.sjys.org, or you may download a Concerto Competition PDF application form and mail it.

All applications must be accompanied by a digital recording of the students performing their chosen concerto for the competition. The recording date must be within three months of the application date.

Each student will receive by mail a notification of the assigned audition time by no later than two weeks prior to the competition's date. Contestants who will arrive after the assigned time will not be allowed to perform. Please plan to arrive early and warm up in the room provided. Participants may not exchange audition times with other contestants.

RULES

Participants will be auditioned on any orchestral instrument or the piano. Double or triple concertos are accepted. Vocalists or winners of the last competition may not apply.

It is recommended that the concertos chosen by applicants are from the standard concerto repertoire, preferably scored for full orchestra (including brass and percussion). Any Concertos performed by the Philharmonic orchestra in the past season will not be accepted. See below a sample list of accepted concertos. If the applicant wishes to perform a concerto not included in the sample list, s/he must submit a request for an approval from SJYS by Friday, February 1, 2008. The student will be notified by the end of February whether the concerto chosen is acceptable or not.

All contestants must prepare their concerto in its entirety. No exceptions will be made. Contestants must play their piece by memory.

All applications will be prescreened. A maximum of 16 applicants will be chosen for the competition, and will be announced within two weeks from the application due date.

All contestants must provide their own accompanist for the competition (a second piano will be available for piano concerto accompanists).

Each contestant must bring two copies of his/her music for the judges.

It is expected that the winners keep their performance level as high or higher by the first rehearsal date with the orchestra. There will be a mandatory meeting with the conductor one month prior to the first rehearsal date, where the winners are expected to demonstrate their competence of performing the work.

The Competition:

The competition will be divided into four categories: strings, woodwinds/brass, piano/percussion, double/triple concertos.

A maximum of five winners will be chosen. The judges have the right to choose no winners in case that the level of performance does not meet the standard of the competition. The decision of the judges will be final.

The names of the winners will be announced at the conclusion of the competition. In addition to the performance with the orchestra, the top three winners will receive monetary prizes (tuition credit) as follows:

1st prize - $300

2nd prize - $200

3rd prize - $100

SJYS students and parents are welcome to sit as observers.

Sample list of accepted concerti for SJYS competitions

Flute

Chaminade - Concertino op.107
Griffes - Poem for flute and orchestra
Haydn - Concerto
Ibert - Concerto
Mozart - Andante, K.315
Mozart - Concertos nos. 1-2
Nielsen - Concerto
Piston - Concerto
Rouse - Concerto

Oboe

Albinoni - Concertos, op.7, no.3; op.9, no.2
Bellini - Concerto E-flat major
Cimarosa - Concerto C minor
Donizetti - Concertino F major
Haydn - Concerto
Marcello - Concerto C minor
Martinu - Concerto
Mozart - Concerto K.314
Strauss. R. - Concerto D major
Vaughan Williams - Concerto

Clarinete

Debussy - Rhapsody clarinet & orchestra
Mozart - Concerto, clarinet, K.622
Nielsen--Concerto, clarinet, op.57
Weber, C.M.--Concertino, op.26; Concertos nos. 1-2

Bassoon

CMozart-Concerto
Weber, C.M - Concerto, bassoon. op.75

Saxophone

Debussy - Rhapsody alto saxophone Glazunov - Concerto. alto saxophone. op.l00
Ibert-Concertino da camera (alto)

Horn

Haydn - Concertos nos. 1-2
Mozart - Concertos nos. 1-4; Concert-rondo horn & orchestra, K.371
Strauss, R-Concertos nos. 1-2
Weber. C.M.- Concertino horn & orchestra. op.45

Trumpet

Haydn - Trumpet Concerto
Humme - Concerto
Tomasi - Concerto

Trombone

Bloch - Symphony for trombone & orchestra
David - Concertino no.4
Zwilich - Concerto. bass trombone Rouse-Concerto

Tuba

Vaughan Williams - Concerto

Piano

Beethoven - any concerto
Brahms - either concerto
Chopin - either concerto
Gershwin - Concerto in F
Grieg - Concerto in A Minor
Haydn - Concerto in D Major
Liszt - Concerto in E-flat or A Major, Totentanz
Mendelssohn - Concerto in G Minor
Mozart - any concerto except K. 40 or 41
Prokofiev - Concerto No. 1 or 3
Rachmaninoff - Concerto No. 1, 2
Ravel - Concerto in G Major
Saint-Saëns - Concerto No. 2
Schumann - Concerto in A Minor
Shostakovich - Concerto No. 2
Tchaikovsky - Concerto No.1

Violin

Barber - Concerto
Beethoven-Concerto in D
Bruch - Concerto in G Minor No. 1
Chausson - Poème
Dvorak-Concerto in a minor
Khachaturian - Concerto
Lalo - Symphonie Espagnol
Mendelssohn - Concerto in E Minor
Mozart - Concerto No. 3, 4, or 5
Paganini-Concerto No 1 & No.2
Saint-Saëns - Concerto No. 3 in B Minor
Saint-Saëns - Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
Sarasate- Carmen Fantasy
Sarasate-Havanera
Sarasate- Zigeunerweisen
Shostakovitch- Concerto
Sibelius - Concerto
Tchaikovsky - Concerto in D Major
Wieniawski - Concerto No. 2 in D Minor
Bartok- Concerto No. 1& 2
Elgar-Concerto in b minor
Glaznov-Concerto in a minor
Schumann-Concerto in D minor
Prokofiev Concerto No.1 & 2

Viola

J.C. Bach - Concerto
Bartók - Concerto
Hindemith - Der Schwanendreher
Shulman - Theme and Variations
Stamitz - Concerto in D Major
Walton - Concerto
Weber - Andante and Hungarian Rondo

Violoncello

Boccherini (Grutzmacher) - Concerto in B-flat Major
Dvorák - Concerto in B Minor
Haydn - Concerto in C or D Major
Lalo - Concerto in D Minor
Saint-Saëns - Concerto in A Minor
Schumann : Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
Shostakovich - Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations

Double Bass

Bottesini - Concerto No. 2
Dragonetti - Concerto
Dittersdorf - Concerto No. 2
Koussevitzky - Concerto
Vanhal - Concerto