facebook
twitter
linkedin
Maestro Louis Scaglione, the President and Music Director of PYO Music Institute (PYO), is pleased to announce a rare opportunity for students who are gifted composers. It is the launch of the Young Composers Competition, in which the winner will have his or her orchestral piece premiered by the PYO Music Institute (PYO), the flagship orchestra of the PYO organization. The performance will take place on June 4, 2017 at the orchestra’s Annual Festival Concert held in Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and may be subsequently broadcast/webcast by WRTI-FM and wrti.com.
In addition, the grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of $2,000.
Composers born between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1998, are invited to apply. The deadline for submission of scores is November 15, 2016. All scores submitted are not to have been professionally recorded, published, and not have any performance history of any kind. Works should be between 5 and 12 minutes in duration. All details are available on the PYO website – www.pyos.org.
The winning composer will be selected collaboratively by Maestro Louis Scaglione, and the director of the Young Composers Competition, Sheridan Seyfried, who is a Philadelphia-based composer. A PYO alumnus, he is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon and Ned Rorem.
Scaglione is pleased to introduce this competition to young composers and said, “We know that instrumental music students are often recognized for their accomplishments but it is rare for young composers. We see this new competition as an opportunity to encourage young composers to develop their most valued skills, and teach our PYO orchestra students the value of supporting new orchestra works, as well as the experience of exploring and performing new music.” Seyfried added, “As a young composer, one of my most important growing opportunities was writing a piece for the PYO Music Institute, an ensemble in which I used to play violin. PYO’s new competition is a win-win for young composers who will hone their orchestral writing skill and the young musicians of the orchestra who will enjoy collaborating with a living composer only slightly older than they are.”
There are additional prizes for the second place and third place winners. The second place winner will have the opportunity to discuss his or her score with Seyfried ahead of time and will receive a recording of a reading session of his or her work with the orchestra. The second place winner may travel to Philadelphia for the reading session at his/her own expense. He/she will also receive a cash prize of $1,000. The third place winner will receive a cash prize of $500.
Submissions should be made electronically as an e-mail to YCC@pyos.org and should contain the following information:
1. Composer’s name, address, telephone number, e-mail address
2. Composer’s age (required), country of citizenship and gender (optional)
3. Composer’s current school with address and phone number
4. Resume and bio
5. A cover letter and/or statement explaining the composer’s work is optional
About the PYO Music Institute:
Entering its 77th year, the renowned PYO Music Institute organization, led by President and Music Director, Maestro Louis Scaglione, is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected community music education and youth orchestra performance programs, providing talented young musicians from across the tri-state area with exceptional musical training. Students go on to excel in many diverse fields, and it is with pride that PYO Music Institute notes that many members of the prestigious Philadelphia Orchestra are alumni. The organization is comprised of six program ensembles designed to meet specific needs and experience levels of students selected through a competitive audition process. The anchor group is the PYO Music Institute (PYO), conducted by President and Music Director Louis Scaglione, featuring 125 gifted instrumentalists who range in age from 14-21. Young musicians 12-18 years old are featured in PYO’s companion ensemble, the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra, which is led by Director and Conductor Maestra Rosalind Erwin, who is Music Director and Conductor of Drexel University Orchestra. Philadelphia Young Musicians Orchestra (PYMO), directed by Maestro Kenneth Bean, is a beginning to intermediate-level full symphonic orchestra that provides most students with their first introduction to large orchestral playing featuring students age 10-17 years old. Bravo Brass, directed by Curtis Institute Dean of Faculty and Students, Paul Bryan, is an all brass ensemble for promising middle and high-school instrumentalists. PRYSM (Philadelphia Region Youth String Music) and PRYSM Young Artists ensembles provide string large ensemble and sectional master class instruction for beginning and intermediate musicians ages 6-14. The director and conductor of PRYSM is Gloria DePasquale, cellist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and conductor of PRSYM Young Artists is Andrea Weber. Tune Up Philly (TUP) is PYO’s engagement program, directed by Paul Smith, that focuses on the creating and inspiring true community by providing children in underserved communities with invaluable opportunities to learn and perform a differentiated orchestral music curriculum. www.pyos.org.
