Bard College Conservatory
2024 Concerto Competition Application and Guidelines
Preliminary Rounds in CPS:
Thursday, November 7, 6pm, (VAP only), and Friday, November 8, 10am (Undergraduate Students and Masters Instrumentalists only)
Final Round – Sosnoff Theater, Fisher Center: Saturday, Nov. 9 at 12 pm
Application deadline: September 30
1. Complete the application form by clicking here: Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition Application
2. Complete the Piano Fellow Request Form to request a pianist as soon as you submit your application. You can review the full pianist request process here.
3. Your teacher must also give permission for you to enter the competition via an email to [email protected]
You must prepare the entire work and perform it from memory – unless you receive special permission from Frank Corliss to use music.
Send a pdf of the concerto score, with page numbers, (the piano reduction, not the solo part) by October 25 to [email protected]
Previous winners of the concerto competition are ineligible to compete again.
Graduate Certificate (APS) students and Collaborative Piano Fellows are not eligible to enter the competition.
Winners of the competition must be current students or recent alumni/ae when they perform with the orchestra.
Repertoire and Timing
- Instrumentalists: Concertos or works for soloist(s) and orchestra are acceptable.
- Instrumentalists: Duo concertos are acceptable; however, entrants may not enter with a solo concerto in addition.
- Voice Majors: Works written for solo voice and orchestra are acceptable. Excerpts from larger works (e.g. an opera or oratorio) do not meet the requirement.
- The entire work should be prepared with piano accompaniment.
- All works should be performed from memory. Special exceptions may be made for particularly complex newer works with prior permission from Frank Corliss.
Preliminary Round: Each student will have a 15-minute slot. Students may begin with 7 minutes of their own choosing, and judges may request other sections in the remaining time.
Final Round performances will be up to 20 minutes long. Students may begin with 7 minutes of their own choosing, and judges may request other sections in the remaining time. This round will be open to the public.
Winners
Following the final performance, the judges will deliberate and choose up to three soloists to appear with the Conservatory Orchestra or The Orchestra Now. The judges reserve the right to choose fewer than three soloists, and alternates may or may not be chosen.
- In order to be eligible to perform with an orchestra, winners of the competition must be current Bard Conservatory students or recent graduates of the Conservatory.
- Winners may be asked to perform a different piece than the one they competed with.
Review: Entering the Competition
- Please complete the application form before September 30 by clicking here: CONCERTO COMPETITION APPLICATION
- Printed application forms must be signed by your teacher, or your teacher may give you permission by emailing Mary-Liz O’Neill at [email protected].
- If you need a pianist for the competition, you must complete the Piano Fellow Request Form.
- Send a pdf of the concerto score, with page numbers, (the piano reduction, not the solo part) to [email protected].