Irving Ludwig Youth Competition
Irving Ludwig Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerto/Aria Competition
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 66 years have gone on to win other prestigious competitions, and/or have become professional musicians with illustrious performing careers.
Rules:
Instrumentalists must be between 12-20 years of age (or singers up to age 22) as of October 1, 2023, and must be prepared to perform one movement of a solo (one player) concerto or an equivalent piece. Please choose a selection (complete movement/scene/aria) between 5-12 minutes in length: selections outside this length will be ineligible. The selection should be performed from memory in all rounds.
Round 1 is online, through this link. These will be available until our deadline, Saturday, September 30 at 8 pm.
For this round, we require:
- Contact information for the student, 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 17-digit confirmation ID (from the receipt email) will be required in the registration process.
Round 1 results will be emailed to competitors on or before Friday, October 6, 2023.
Round 2 will be on the afternoon of Saturday, October 21, 2023, 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 close to midday, and begin hearing performances at 1:30 pm.
The two or three winners will perform with the LSO in Spring 2024, with the requirement that they be able to rehearse and perform with the orchestra, in coordination with the conductor. It is possible that due to venue changes, pianists might be invited to perform in Fall 2024. The orchestra will also require performer biographies and a photo for the concert program, one month before the performance. This is a requirement.
Please ensure that your performance is uploaded to a service (such as YouTube, Vimeo or another streaming service) with the link viewable to “anyone with the link.”
Will my piece be acceptable?
Probably. The LSO is an excellent orchestra and plays repertoire from a wide variety of composers and level of difficulty (for the orchestra). Works rented from publishers are no problem.