The Yale Symphony Orchestra
2023 William Waite Concerto Competition
Award:
Winners will be invited to perform the concerto on which they auditioned on a YSO concert next season at a date to be determined by the Music Director.
Eligibility:
The competition is open to all first years, sophomores, or juniors in Yale College with priority given to YSO Members. Applicants must be available to perform with the Yale Symphony Orchestra during the 2023-2024 season at the discretion of the Music Director. The winner of the award agrees to commit to rostered membership in the regular season, with exception of non-orchestral instruments (i.e. guitar, piano, voice).
Competition Schedule and Rules:
Preliminary Round
Applicants should prepare ten minutes of music from the concerto which they are auditioning on. Your ten minutes must include selections from each movement.
Applicants should submit a ten minute video via unlisted YouTube link. Accompaniment is not required for the YouTube submission. Please put “William Waite Concerto Competition Application” in the subject line, and provide the following information in the body of your e-mail:
Name
Class Year
Name of the work being performed
You may submit your YouTube audition link to brian.s.robinson@yale.edu by 5:00pm on January 6, 2023.
Applications submitted that lack the above specifications will be disqualified.
Late entries will not be considered.
Final Round
Finalists will be chosen from the first round and all applicants will be notified by Friday, January 13, 2023. Four finalists will be chosen from the preliminary round.
Finalists will be asked to prepare their entire concerto in the final round. Finalists will each have a half hour to perform, and may be asked for specific passages by the jury.
Please bring two copies of scores for adjudicators to reference.
Accompaniment is required of all finalists. You are responsible for finding your own accompanist if you are selected as a finalist. If you need assistance with compensation for an accompanist, aid consideration is available via https://finlit.yale.edu/safetynet.
The final round competition will be held in the Blocker Orchestra Room in Hendrie Hall on Saturday, February 11, 2023 between 12pm and 3pm by three judges to be revealed at that time.
Notification
Competition winner will be notified of the judges’ decision after the Final Round is complete. The decision of the judges is final.