2009 Chicago Chamber Music Competition

Midwest Young Artists is pleased to announce its 2nd Annual Chicago National Chamber Music Competition to be held on Sunday, March 1, 2009, at Bennett-Gordon Hall in the Harza Building on the Campus of Ravinia Festival. The competition is designed to provide an educational as well as a competitive experience for young chamber ensembles. The competition is open to chamber ensembles in 12th grade and younger and is comprised of two divisions (Open and MYA). The competition is open to all instruments and is divided into the following two categories: Strings & Piano and All Other Instruments (brass, percussion, voice, winds). Contestants will be competing for over $5,000 in cash prizes and scholarships and the winner of each division will perform in a Winners Recital at the Chicago Cultural Center on Sunday, April 19, 2009. The competition is open to the public and there is no charge for admission.

Download the 2009 Competition brochure (PDF)

2009 Results

Overall Winner / Winner of MYA Division Other Instruments Category
Schlagwerk 4
Ben Paulson, Christian Schmidt,
Michael Garrett, Ryan Logan, percussion
Ritual Music by David Skidmore
Omphalo Centric Lecture by Nigel Westlake

MYA Division

Open Division

Eligibility

Ensembles may consist of 3 to 8 musicians. Ensembles may use no more than one piano. Set-up and tear-down may take no longer than 2 minutes.

There are 2 Divisions :
1. Midwest Young Artists (MYA) Division
2. Open Division

Ensembles in the MYA Division must be active participants in the MYA Chamber Music Program. All other ensembles will be entered in the Open Division. The competition is for students in 12th grade and younger as of the 08-09 academic year.

Their are 2 Categories in each Division:
1. Strings & Piano
2. All other instruments (brass, percussion, voice, winds)

Venue

Bennett-Gordon Hall
John D. Harza Building, Ravinia Festival
Highland Park, 60035

Repertoire Requirements

Repertoire must include a minimum of 15 minutes total playing time and include at least two contrasting movements, not necessarily from the same work. Jurors will select 10 minutes of music from the submitted repertoire list. Ensembles will be informed of the selections upon entering the warm-up room. Warm-up time is 24 minutes in length with a 12 minute break before performance time. (Please note: The warm-up room will include a Yamaha Clavinova for pianists.)

No ensemble will be allowed to practice in the performance hall prior to the ensemble's performance time.

Two complete sets of the original scores will be required of each ensemble. Failure to meet score requirements will result in disqualification.

Application & Entry Fee

Applications and entry fees must be received by 11:59 p.m. on February 1, 2009.

Application Form

Awards and Prizes

One Overall Winning Ensemble will be selected from the MYA Division.
One Overall Winning Ensemble will be selected from the Open Division.

Overall Winners

• Overall Winning Ensembles will perform on a Winners Recital at the Chicago Cultural Center on Sunday, April 19. (Additional performance opportunities to be arranged.)
• The Overall Winning Ensembles will receive a Cash Award of $1,000.

Category Winners

• Category winners for each Division will receive a MYA Tuition Scholarship for each member of the ensemble (valued at $250 per member) to be used towards 2009-10 academic year Chamber Program or 2009 Summer Music Festival.

Judging Panel

Jeremy Black - Concertmaster, Grant Park Symphony Orchestra; 1st violin, Pittsburgh Symphony; MYA Alum, 1996

Channing Philbrick - Trumpet, Lyric Opera of Chicago

Thomas Rosenberg - Artistic Director, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition

Tom Vignieri - Artistic Director, NPR's From The Top Radio Show

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