ARTSCAPE ANNOUNCES DETAILS OF 2009 NATIONAL CLASSICAL MUSIC COMPETITION

ARTSCAPE, the Western Cape’s performing arts company, has launched the 2009 edition of its National Youth Music Competition, which will be held from 5 to 10 October 2009 in Cape Town.

Aimed at talented young classical musicians, the competition offers prizes totalling R65,000. The final six contenders will perform with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO).

The competition is open to all classical pianists and orchestral instrumentalists between the ages of 14 and 19 years. The closing date for entries is 24 April 2009.

A total of 30 participants will be selected from qualifying auditions in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. Qualifying musicians will be announced shortly after the auditions in June this year.

The competition consists of four rounds and will take place at the Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town. All selected participants will play in the first two rounds after which the first elimination of the participants takes place.

During the first two rounds, each competitor will play four works from at least three different style periods. One of the works must be a movement from Classical or Romantic sonata. A later style period is allowed for brass instruments, saxophone and percussion.

In the third round, each participant will play a 15-minute recital of two or more contrasting works. In addition, a movement from a concerto; or a single work for the chosen instrument; or two movements from a concerto; or a complete concerto with piano accompaniment must be performed.

A maximum of 12 competitors will go through to the third round and six (6) finalists will compete in performance with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra in the final round. All the rounds will be open to the public.

"As demonstrated by the exceptional performances of the past two years, this competition provides a platform for exceptional young classical musicians to develop their musical and technical skills in competitive circumstances. Artscape started this initiative in collaboration with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, Fine Music Radio and the City of Cape Town to ensure the sustainability of the performing arts and creating a platform for young, classical musicians," says Michael Maas, CEO.

A competition brochure and entry forms can be downloaded from the Artscape website at www.artscape.co.za. Interested musicians can also write to the Secretariat, Artscape Youth Music Competition, PO Box 4107, Cape Town, 8000, or e-mail youthmusic@artscape.co.za, or fax: (021) 419-8756.

A non-refundable fee of R150 per entry is payable and candidates are only allowed to enter for one instrument category. Previous overall winners may not enter this competition.

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