Application Requirements

Your application should display a full range of technical skills and interpretive ability by presenting works by a variety of composers. All repeats and lengthy passages of accompaniment only sections should be omitted.

• Submit a total of three (3) individual digital video recordings of the applicant’s choosing to include the following and in the following order:
  • One (1) selection that is standard repertoire for your instrument — must be an unaccompanied work written for the solo instrument (such as an etude or Bach composition).
  • One (1) selection that highlights your technical ability (such as a concerto or sonata).
  • One (1) selection originally written within the last 40 years.

Each selection should be under five (5) minutes in length. Please edit videos of longer selections as needed to highlight artistic strengths.

NOTE: If selected as a winner with distinction, you will be required to perform your submitted materials live for the panel during National YoungArts Week.

Accompaniment Requirements

• Works requiring accompaniment should be performed and filmed with live accompaniment as the score requires.
• Piano or harpsichord are suggested accompaniment instruments.
• Only works originally composed for solo instruments (player alone) can be submitted without accompaniment.

Guidelines for Recording

• Use a fixed point of view for your camera with you being the main focus. Shoot straight on, leaving the camera in one location. Do not pan or move the camera. Camera should be no closer than waist up.
• Ensure recording captures good quality image and sound. Check for good balance and blend.
• Make sure there are 1-3 seconds of silence before the beginning of the piece.
• No sound enhancements are allowed.
• Hands and fingers must be visible.
• If you are playing from memory, be sure there is no music on the stand.

Media Submission Requirements

• Save and name your files individually with their titles.
• Upload each selection as a separate video file.
• List the title of piece and the composer in the correct spaces provided on your application.
• Do not put your name or any identifying information in or on your media submission.
• When uploading, be sure that the video image is upright (not sideways or upside down) and plays smoothly.
• Whenever possible, please do not edit within a piece or submit pre-recorded live performances, such as recitals, concerts or competitions.

NOTE: You are welcome to submit materials that have been part of other applications, competitions, or projects. YoungArts does not own any works submitted to its competition, however if your work has been submitted to other competitions, you are responsible for obtaining permission to submit to YoungArts, if necessary.

Repertoire Suggestions (not required)

Accordion – standard repertoire: J.S. Bach or Dmitri Shostakovich; technical repertoire: O. Schmidt, W. Jacobi, H. Brehme, A. Kusjakov, W. Semionov, W. Zolotariev, A. Cholminov, T. Lundquist, A. Repnikow, G. Wuensch, Gorka Hermosa, Guy Klucevsek, Steve Mobia, Joseph Natoli, Richard Romiti, Stas Venglevski, William Schimmel.

Double Bass (Contrabass) – standard repertoire: a Bach cello suite (transcribed); technical repertoire: a concerto by composers such as Capuzzi, Dragonetti, Koussevitzky or Tubin.

Guitar – standard repertoire: an unaccompanied partita, sonata or suite by J.S. Bach. (For the Chaconne play up to the Maggiore section (transcribed).

Euphonium – technical repertoire: first or last movement of the Bassoon Concerto by Mozart; Sonata in F minor by Telemann; or a work of comparable difficulty.

Harp – technical repertoire: The first movement of Handel’s Concerto in B flat or a work of comparable difficulty.

Harpsichord – standard repertoire: sonata by D. Scarlatti or Soler; technical repertoire: a complete composition from the Baroque period.

Organ – standard repertoire: Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach; technical repertoire: chorale prelude OR one (1) complete composition by Cesar Franck or Felix Mendelssohn, or a work of comparable difficulty.

Piano – standard repertoire: a prelude and fugue from J.S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, Volume 1 or 2; technical repertoire: The first or last movement of a classical period sonata (excluding Beethoven’s Op. 49, Op. 79 and Mozart’s K.545) OR one (1) selection from the Romantic period through the early 20th Century. (Large form examples: Chopin Scherzo or Ballade, Ravel fast mvmt. of Gaspard de la nuit, Brahms, complete late opus or group of individual mvmts).

Trumpet – standard repertoire: etude by Arban, Bousquet, Brandt or Charlier; or unaccompanied work written as such for the solo instrument; technical repertoire: The opening or closing movement of the Haydn or Hummel Concerto for Trumpet.

Tuba – standard repertoire: etude from Blazhevich, Bordogni, or Vasiliev; or unaccompanied work written as such for the solo instrument.

Viola – standard repertoire: movement of a cello suite by J.S. Bach (transcribed); technical repertoire: the first or last movement of a Bloch suite, Schubert’s Arpeggione sonata, the first movement of either the Bartók, Schnittke, or Walton Concertos, or the first movement of any Hindemith or Brahms sonata for viola and piano.

Violin – standard repertoire: an unaccompanied sonata or partita by J.S. Bach (for the Chaconne, play up to the Maggiore section); technical repertoire: The first movement of a sonata from the Classical period OR first movement of a Romantic or 20th century concerto (such as Bartók, Barber, Prokofiev, or Stravinsky) with cadenza, if published.

Violoncello – standard repertoire: a suite by J.S. Bach; technical repertoire: The first movement of a sonata from the Classical period OR first movement of a concerto by a composer such as Bloch, Boccherini, Dvorak, Haydn, Lalo, Prokofiev, Saint-Saens or Schumann. (Applicants who choose to play Rococo Variations must play the entire work).

Woodwinds (e.g. Bassoon, Clarinet, Flute, Oboe, Piccolo, Saxophone) – technical repertoire: The opening or closing movement of a concerto or sonata.