East Carolina University
Sixth Annual Young Artists Competition for pre-college organists April 19-22, 2012
The East Carolina University Young Artist Competition for Pre-College Organists is an innovative outreach program designed to inspire young musicians in our region to strive for the highest level of musicianship and technical accomplishment in organ performance. The competition is open to any pre-college student in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Florida. In addition to generous monetary prizes, the competitors will also compete for the two additional prizes in Hymn playing and Bach interpretation. The competition will be staged in two rounds. From the recorded application round three finalists will be chosen to compete live on April 21, 2012. All three will receive prizes and will be considered for the two special prizes mentioned above: The Bach Prize and the Hymn-Playing Prize. Organists chosen for the Final Round arrive for practice on Thursday and/or Friday, and attend the 7:30 p.m. recital by the competition judge, Dr. Joby Bell, from Appalachian State University. The organ competition will take place in the afternoon of Saturday the 21st, on the Perkins and Wells Memorial Organ, C.B. Fisk, Opus 126, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, which borders the ECU campus. The competition will conclude with the awarding of prizes; however competitors are encouraged to remain in Greenville for Sunday (April 22) services at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (10:30 a.m. Choral Eucharist) as well as Monday (April 23) when they are invited to observe sacred music lessons and classes. All recitals, masterclasses, and the competition itself are free and open to the public. Full organ competition details can be found below.
Thursday and/or Friday, April 19-20, 2012 - Organ finalists practice at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. A schedule will be announced when finalists are determined.
Friday, April 20, 2012, 7:30 p.m. - Organ Recital by guest artist & adjudicator, Dr. Joby Bell (St. Paul’s Episcopal Church). Reception follows in St. Paul’s Parish Hall.
Saturday, April 21, 2012 - 9 am-2 pm: Finalists practice at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church - 2:30-4:00 p.m.: Organ competition followed by awarding or prizes - 5:00 pm: Reception
Sunday, April 22, 2012 - All are welcome to attend the 10:30 a.m. Choral Eucharist—St. Paul’s Episcopal Church - All are welcome to attend the 5:00 p.m. service of Choral Evensong—St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Monday, April 23, 2012 - Competitors are welcome to remain on campus to attend organ lessons and/or sacred music courses and the 5:00 p.m. studio performance class.
Official Rules: Young Artist Competition for Pre-College Organists Eligibility: The competition is open to pre-college students between the ages of 13-18 who are residents of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia or Florida. Current students of the judges and previous first place winners are ineligible to compete.
Competitors must submit three copies of a recording (high quality cassette or compact disc) postmarked no later than March 20, 2012, of the following repertoire for solo organ. The recordings must contain no speaking, and each piece must be continuous and unedited; recordings must not be marked with the name of the competitor.
1. One work by Johann Sebastian Bach. 2. One piece composed between 1850-1950 in a Romantic style. 3. One piece composed after 1950 in a style contrasting with the second work.
Performance from memory is optional. Total performance time of the repertoire should not exceed forty (40) minutes.
Compositions to be performed at the final round are to be the same as those on the recording with the following addition: All finalists will be sent a competition hymn packet and should be ready to play an introduction and designated stanzas of all hymns contained therein. On Friday, April 20, all finalists will be notified of the two hymns chosen and all will play the same two hymns on the competition day.
Not more than three persons will be chosen for live competition. Each will receive an equal amount of practice the days before and of the competition. Teachers or other assistants provided by the competitor may help with registration choices and turn pages; however, each competitor must accomplish his or her own registration changes (i.e. piston changes) during the competition. Both the preliminary recorded round and final competition will be judged with complete anonymity and judges’ comments will be given to each competitor. Performers must use legal scores. The judge’s decisions will be final. The competition will be open to the public.
Awards:
First prize: The Fisk Prize, donated by C.B. Fisk, Inc, in memory of Charles Brenton Fisk. $1,000.00
Second prize: The ECMAEF Award, donated by East Carolina Musical Arts Education Foundation. $500
Third prize: The American Guild of Organists Prize, donated by the Eastern Carolina Chapter of the AGO. $300
Special prizes: The Bach Prize: recognizing the outstanding performance of a work by Johann Sebastian Bach
The Hymn Prize: recognizing the day’s most outstanding hymn playing.
All finalists will be awarded a compact disc of their performance.
The East Carolina University Young Artist Competition for Pre-College Organists is an innovative outreach program designed to inspire young musicians in our region to strive for the highest level of musicianship and technical accomplishment in organ performance. The competition is open to any pre-college student in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Florida. In addition to generous monetary prizes, the competitors will also compete for the two additional prizes in Hymn playing and Bach interpretation. The competition will be staged in two rounds. From the recorded application round three finalists will be chosen to compete live on April 21, 2012. All three will receive prizes and will be considered for the two special prizes mentioned above: The Bach Prize and the Hymn-Playing Prize.
Organists chosen for the Final Round arrive for practice on Thursday and/or Friday, and attend the 7:30 p.m. recital by the competition judge, Dr. Joby Bell, from Appalachian State University.
The organ competition will take place in the afternoon of Saturday the 21st, on the Perkins and Wells Memorial Organ, C.B. Fisk, Opus 126, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, which borders the ECU campus. The competition will conclude with the awarding of prizes; however competitors are encouraged to remain in Greenville for Sunday (April 22) services at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (10:30 a.m. Choral Eucharist) as well as Monday (April 23) when they are invited to observe sacred music lessons and classes.
All recitals, masterclasses, and the competition itself are free and open to the public.
Full organ competition details can be found below.
