American Classical Young Musician Award

Our Mission

American Classical Young Musician Award is an international music competition in which we want to encourage young musicians to perform and grow. We believe that our competition can offer many benefits to our participants and help to build their confidence and realize their dreams. Our purpose is to discover artists of outstanding personality and provide awards, which can help to launch international careers. The aim of our prizes is to find performers with a strong artistic personality and stage presence. The emphasis is therefore not on the purely technical aspect of the performance, but also on the artistic charisma of the performer.

2023 Eligibility

The 2023 American Classical Young Musician Award is open to all instruments, voice, and chamber ensembles. We encourage unique chamber ensemble combinations. 

Competition Timeline

May 10th, 2023 Competition Open

September 20th, 2023 : Final Deadline

September 30th, 2023: Winners Announcement

A completely online application including

1: A completed Application Form with a copy of birth certificate or other government proof of date of birth.

2. Current short biography ( within150 words) list of principal teachers, schools, master classes attended, competitions etc.

3. Video recording (upload on Youtube )—see Repertoire requirements and upload instructions.

4. A non-refundable Solo Application fee of $ 95.00 USD, Ensemble $75.00 USD/contestant.

Category

  • Piano
  • Strings
  • Voice
  • Woodwinds
  • Brass
  • Percussion

Age Category

Group A : Spark: 5-10 years old

Group B:  ASPIRE  : 11-14 years old

Group C: Young musician:  15-18 years old

Group D: Professional:  19-40 years old 

Repertoire

Group A:  Any single work or movement from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, or Contemporary periods. (Limitation: 7 minutes)

Group B: Any two works or movements from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, or Contemporary periods. (Limitation: 12 minutes)

Group C: Two contrasting works or movements from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, or Contemporary periods (Time Limitation: 20 minutes)

Group D: Two contrasting major works from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, or Contemporary periods. All works must be prepared in their entirety. ( Limitation: 40 minutes)

* For Group D Voice contestant:  must including one opera aria , one  art song by two of the following languages (German,Italian,  French, Russian)

The Recordings Must Follow Those Rules

1: Pieces must be uploaded separately to YouTube (one link per piece)

2: Videos must be made in 6 months, sound edited are not allowed.

3: Videos must clearly show both hands and face in one take, with the camera in fixed angle and close to the candidate

4: We recommend to make a professional or high quality(720p or 1080p) video to ensure the optimal material presented to the Jury

5: Fill all the necessary information on the title of the video (name of the Candidate, Category, age and title of the piece)

Important Rules

1: The audition for the jury will be evaluated through video materials presented by each participant. A panel of judges evaluates and punctuates the video material submitted, and the final selections of winners is based solely on the same recordings submitted. Judges are independent, and their students are not allowed to play at the competition.

2: Contestants may not contact any member of the Jury, including the Artistic Director, as long as they continue to participate in the 2021 American Classical young musician award judgement. Any violation of this rule will disqualify the award.

3: It is the responsibility of the contestants to provide the Competition with a valid Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) to receive prize money in full.

4: All repertoire must be performed from memory.

5: All video recordings made during any of the events of the American Classical Young Musician Award will remain the sole property of the American Youth Musician Union.

6:Our judges are all musicians from all over the world. The jury has exclusive jurisdiction to settle any disagreement. Its decisions are final and can not be contested. It may possibly be decided not to award a prize in one or another category.

7: We will mail all of our competition winner award packages with a service fee $ 40 for U.S.winner and $70 for international winner. The package includes Winner Certificate, 999 Gold Commemorative Award Medal and Winner Prize,Teacher’s Diploma and Winner Prize Check.

Competition Prize

Golden Prize Winner: Official Certificate and 999 Gold Commemorative Plated Medal + Teacher Certificate

Silver Prize Winner: Official Certificate and GoldCommemorative plated Medal+ teacher certificate

Bronze Prize Winner: Official Certificate and Gold Commemorative plated Medal + teacher certificate

Honorable Mention : Official Certificate +Commemorative plated Medal

How to Apply?

1: Please use our Paypal button to pay the application fee and save the Transaction Number.

2: Click here to submit your application form with your Bio and Photo ID.

Solo Application Fee

Ensemble Application Fee

American Classical Young Musician Award Application