Irving Ludwig Youth Competition
Irving Ludwig Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerto/Aria Competition
Thank you for your interest in performing with the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra!
Detailed competition rules
The Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artists Concerts feature Young Artists’ Auditions winners performing with the LSO. The competition draws contestants from Pennsylvania and nearby states. Many LSO Young Artist soloists over the last 65 years have gone on to win other prestigious competitions, and/or have become professional musicians with illustrious performing careers.
The 2022/23 competition is now closed, but we look forward to hearing the second round participants in October (notifications on Thursday, September 8: UPDATE, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9 – thanks for your patience while we ensure this is done correctly), and our next time, the 2023/24 competition!
Two rules that are specific to the 2022/23 season concern:
1. Covid protocols: Competitors who proceed past the first round will need to provide proof of vaccination within a week of receiving this result – second-round times will only be scheduled for competitors who complete this step. Proof of vaccination will be required for accompanists, before the audition. Details for these steps will be sent to competitors advancing past the first round. At Settlement, masks are required at all times (to enter and inside) We will collect contact-tracing information for competitors and accompanists.
Settlement may request family members wait in cars.
2. Rehearsal/performance requirements. Winners need to be available to play in one or both of these dates (below), with dress rehearsal/concert at Upper Darby Performing Arts Center (601 N Lansdowne Rd, Drexel Hill) and at one or two 7:30pm Tuesday rehearsals in the weeks leading up to the performance. Sunday, March 26 at 3pm concert, with dress rehearsal 1:30-3pm Saturday, March 26 and/or Sunday, April 30 at 3pm concert, with dress rehearsal 1:30-3pm Saturday, April 29
Finally, to compete, please pay the $20 entry fee via this PayPal link before proceeding to the entry form. The entry form will ask you to copy and paste the transaction ID from PayPal, so please keep your PayPal confirmation email. (If you don’t see the button yet, it sometimes takes a little while to load.)
Rules: Instrumentalists must be between 12-18 years of age (or singers up to age 23) as of September 3, 2021, and must be prepared to perform one movement of a solo (one player) concerto or an equivalent piece. Please choose a selection (complete movement) between 5-12 minutes in length: selections outside this length will be ineligible.
In all rounds, the piece should be performed from memory.
Round 1 is online, through the link, below. It will be available from Monday, August 8, 2022, until our deadline, Tuesday, September 6 at 8 pm. For this round, we require: – Contact information for the student, plus a designated family member, and teacher. – Audio or video of the piece, performed/recorded with piano accompaniment. – A PDF copy of your music (solo or piano reduction) – $20 entry fee, payable using PayPal. The confirmation ID (from the receipt email) will be required in the registration process
Round 1 results will be emailed to competitors on or by Thursday, September 8, 2022 (UPDATE: Friday, September 9, 2022 – please excuse the delay), and auditions scheduled on receipt of proof of Coronavirus vaccination.
Round 2 will be on the afternoon of Saturday, October 1, 2022, and will comprise approximately 4-8 finalists. If selected, finalists must confirm attendance within one week of receiving their Round 1 result. The final round is normally at Settlement Music School, 4910 Wynnefield Ave., Philadelphia. We anticipate having one hour for sound-checks from midday and begin judging at 1:30 pm.
One or two winners will perform with the LSO in Spring 2023, with the requirement that they be able to rehearse and perform with the orchestra, in coordination with the conductor. The orchestra also requires performer biographies and a photo for the concert program, one month before the performance.
When submitting a video file, you may encounter difficulties if the files are large. There are many resources online that can reduce size without adversely affecting quality – Handbrake is a good example, but there are many others – you may find them searching for “reduce video size free online,” for example.