Concerto Competition
For 67 years, YPSCA has held a Young People's Concerto Competition for advanced student musicians in grades 7-12. The winner of the top prize is invited to perform with the Minnesota Orchestra in a set of Young People’s Concerts. Cash prizes, donated by individuals and music-related businesses, are awarded to all Finalists.
Each contestant prepares a portion of a major work, such as a concerto movement, to perform from memory. Performances are judged by professional musicians specializing in strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion and piano. For the Finals, held on the Orchestra Hall stage, YPSCA welcomes members of the public to attend and to witness the riveting performances of these extraordinary young musicians.
2025 Concerto Competition
The Minnesota Orchestra Young People's Symphony Concert Association (YPSCA) announces the 68th Annual Young People’s Concerto Competition to be held February 2, 2025. Applications are due Friday, December 6, 2024. The Preliminary Round will be virtual with performance video submissions due Monday, January 6, 2025. The Final Round will be held at Orchestra Hall on Sunday, February 2, 2025.
Students in grades 7 through 12, who are advanced players of orchestral instruments or piano, and are residents of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, or Wisconsin, may apply. The Grand Prize winner will be invited to perform as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra in a set of Young People’s Concerts in the 2025-2026 season and will receive the $2,000 Edwin W. and Edith B. Norberg Trust Award. Additional cash prizes will be awarded to all Finalists; in a typical year, the total value of these prizes is more than $10,000.
Contact YPSCA with any questions or concerns.
Jane Story takes top honors at YPSCA’s 67th Annual Concerto Competition
Forty-one students competed in the virtual Preliminary Round of YPSCA’s Concerto Competition by submitting performance videos which were adjudicated remotely by a panel of ten judges. Fourteen of those students advanced to the Final Round on Sunday, February 25, 2024 at Orchestra Hall.
Violinist Jane Story, age 17, won the Competition with a beautiful performance of the first movement, Allegro molto appassionato, of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64. Her top prize award includes a performance with the Minnesota Orchestra at a future Young People’s Concert, and a cash prize of $2,000 from the Edwin and Edith Norberg Fund. Jane also won the Claire Givens Violins Award. Jane, who is from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, studies violin with Anna Cromwell while studying academics through the Academy of Excellence Online School based in Milwaukee.
In addition to the top honor won by Jane Story, each Finalist received at least one award:
- Alex Rodriguez, 15, piano, won the Edwin Norberg Award and the Paul Winberg Award
- Orion Kim, 19, piano, won the Edith Norberg Award
- Kevin Chen, 14, piano, won the Norberg Award
- Joshua Moon, 17, cello, won the Schmitt Music Award
- William Feng, 14, piano, won the Margaret Ankeny Award
- Jacob Taggart, 17, piano, won the Bonnie and Donn McLellan Award
- Sophia Alexander, 16, cello, won the Karen Holmes Award
- André Peck, 14, piano, won the Dr. Kathleen Simo Award
- Christian Garner, 15, trumpet, won the David Colwell Award
- Thomas Stang, 17, piano, won the Patricia Krueger Award
- Vladimir Tsiper, 17, violin, won the Mariellen Jacobson Award
- Gaia Daniel, 13, piano, won the Judith and David Ranheim Award
- Lorelei Schoenhard, 14, violin, won the Minneapolis Music Teachers Forum Award
Please join us in congratulating all of the Finalists, and in thanking the generous donors of this year’s awards, which collectively totaled $12,000. We also thank our judges for the Final Round: Celine Leathead, Milana Reiche, Paul Shaw and Rebecca Shockley; and for the Preliminary Round: Jim Bartsch, Kari Docter, Noel Engebretson, Michele Frisch, Ivan Konev, Ho-Yin Kwok, Hanna Landrum, Kai Rocke, Kevin Watkins, and Paul Winberg.
