Norbert Mueller Memorial Young Artist Competition

January 13, 2024
Hope College Howard Recital Hall
HSO is changing our concerto competition to encourage wider and more diverse participation. The goal is to celebrate the musical achievements of our area high school students.  This event will be a public recital; students of all ability levels are welcome to participate.  Family and friends are invited to attend.  The top students, as determined by a panel of three outside judges, will be awarded monetary prizes.

Eligibility: Students must be in grades 9-12.  Participants must live in Ottawa or Allegan Counties and/or be a current member of Holland Symphony Youth Orchestras.  A current student of any Holland Symphony Orchestra member (regardless of geographic area) is eligible.  All instruments including piano are eligible. The previous winner may perform but will be ineligible to win a prize.  Prize consideration will be given a second time after the one-year ineligibility. 

Awards: The winner will receive $500.00. The second-place winner will receive $250.00 and the third-place winner will receive $150.00. 

Repertoire: The choice of music is up to the participant but the piece must have accompaniment. (No solo piano pieces or unaccompanied pieces for other instruments will be allowed.)  It does NOT need to be a concerto or have orchestral accompaniment available–piano accompaniment is sufficient.  If in doubt, please check with your private teacher, band/orchestra teacher, or HSO (email hso@hollandsymphony.org).  The recommended total playing time is between 3-12 minutes. The work does NOT need to be performed by memory.  Participants must provide their own accompanist for the performance. (Check  here for a list of accompanists.)

The recital will begin at 1:00 PM and will be held in the small recital hall at the Jack H. Miller Center for the Arts at Hope College in Holland. The recital will be open to the public. Performance order will be randomly selected and is not negotiable, but HSO will try to honor requests made ahead of time.  Warm-up rooms are available throughout the music building.  Although this is a public performance with a reception following, no taping or videos are allowed during the competition. (The HSO videographer will be present.)

Interested in registering?

Your current grade in the 22-23 school year.
List composer, complete title, and movement name and number that you will be playing.
Number of minutes it takes you to play your piece with piano.

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