Chamber guidelines

SJYS Chamber Orchestra’s Concerto Competition

The San Jose Youth Symphony’s Chamber Orchestra holds its annual Concerto Competition every spring, proudly sponsored by the San Jose Symphony Foundation.

This year, the competition will take place on Sunday, April 12, 2015, at 4 pm, at Los Gatos United Methodist Church (LGUMC).

Please read the following page carefully and thoroughly to familiarize yourself with the competition’s rules and guidelines.

General Information

• The Concerto Competition is open only to members of the Chamber Orchestra;
• Members of the Chamber Orchestra may not compete in the year they are graduating from SJYS
• Winners of the competition will perform their piece in one of the Chamber Orchestra’s concerts scheduled for the following season, and wil receive a monetary prize in the form of a discount applicable towards the following season’s member tuition:

  1st prize – $300
  2nd prize – $200
  3rd prize – $100

• SJYS cannot guarantee that the winners will be able to perform their piece in its entirety as it depends on the length of the piece and its instrumentation.

Application Process

• Applications are being accepted from now until January 31, 2015. NO new applications will be accepted after this deadline;
• Download and fill out the Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition application form and then mail the completed form to the SJYS office with a $40 application fee, by check made payable to “SJYS”
• All applicants MUST SUBMIT a digital recording of their performance of the selected piece for the competition WITH THE APPLICATION FORM. The recording must include the entire piece;
• The applicant’s recording must have occurred no earlier than three months before the filing of the application form;
• All applications will be prescreened. A maximum of 12 applicants will be selected for the competition, and will be announced within two weeks from the application filing deadline;
• SJYS will schedule a performance time and will notify the applicant of the assigned time no later than two weeks prior to the competition date;
• All applicants must be on call to perform at any time during the afternoon of the competition, in case of potential last-minute changes.

Competition Rules

• Contestants may play any orchestral instrument;
• Double or triple concertos are accepted;
• Vocalists or winners from the last competition may not apply;
• Contestants are not permitted to enter the competition with a concerto that was performed by the Chamber Orchestra during the previous season;
• SJYS strongly recommends that contestants choose pieces that are from the standard concerto repertoire, scored for Chamber Orchestra size (two of every woodwind, two horns, two trumpets, timpani). See the sample list of acceptable concertos below on this page;
• If the applicant wishes to perform a concert which is not included in the sample list, he/she must submit a request for approval from SJYS by November 15, 2014;
• SJYS will notify the applicant by the end of January whether the concerto selected is acceptable;
• All contestants must prepare their concerto in its entirety. No exceptions will be made. Contestants must play their piece from memory;
• All contestants muc provide their own accompanist for the competition;
• All contestants must bring two copies of his/her music for the judges;
• Contestants who arrive after their assigned time wil not be allowed to perform. Please plan to arrive early and warm up in the room provided;
• Contestants may not exchange times with other contestants.

The Competition

• The competition will be divided into three categories: strings, woodwinds/brass, and double/triple concertos;
• No more than four winners will be chosen. the judges have the right to choose no winners in the event that the level of performance does not meet the standards of competition. The decision of the judges is final;
• The judges will announce the winners at the conclusion of the competition;
• SJYS members and parents are welcome to attend the competition as observers;
• SJYS expects that the winners keep their performance level as high or higher by the first rehearsal date with their orchestra. There will be a mandatory meeting with the conductor one month prior to the first rehearsal date, where the winners are expected to demonstrate their competence in performing the work.

Flute:
Griffes – Poem for flute and orchestra
Haydn – Concerto
Ibert – Concerto
Mozart – Andante, K.315
Mozart – Concertos nos. 1-2

Oboe:
Albinoni – Concertos, op.7, no.3; op.9, no.2
Bellini – Concerto E-flat major
Cimarosa – Concerto C minor
Donizetti – Concertino F major
Haydn – Concerto
Marcello – Concerto C minor
Martinu – Concerto
Mozart – Concerto K.314
Strauss. R. – Concerto D major
Vaughan Williams – Concerto

Clarinet:
Mozart – Concerto, clarinet, K.622
Weber, C.M.–Concertino, op.26; Concertos nos. 1-2

Bassoon:
Mozart-Concerto
Weber, C.M – Concerto, bassoon. op.75

Horn:
Haydn – Concertos nos. 1-2
Mozart – Concertos nos. 1, 3

Trumpet:
Haydn – Trumpet Concerto
Hummel – Concerto

Violin:
Bach – Concerto No. 1&2
Mozart – Concerto No. 1-7
Saint-Saëns – Concerto No. 1 Op. 20; Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso; Havanaise
Sarasate- Zigeunerweisen; Introduction and Tarantella
Schumann-Concerto in D minor
Telemann – Concerto
Torelli – any concerto
Vivaldi – any concerto
Wieniawski – Legend, Op. 17

Viola:
Handel – Concerto
Telemann – Concerto
Stamitz – Concerto in D Major
Weber – Andante and Hungarian Rondo

Violoncello:
Boccherini (Grutzmacher) – Concerto in B-flat Major
Haydn – Concerto No. 1&2
Saint-Saëns – Concerto in A Minor 
Vivaldi – any concerto

Double Bass:
Bottesini – Concerto No. 2
Dragonetti – Concerto
Dittersdorf – Concerto in Eb Major, Concerto in E Major 
Vanhal – Concerto

Double/triple concerto:
Any combinations of solo instruments from Baroque and early Classical era