Claremont Winds to hold young artists competition

CLAREMONT WINDS ANNOUNCES YOUNG ARTISTS COMPETITION

The Claremont Winds, an adult community concert band based in Claremont, CA, has created a scholarship program for young wind and percussion musicians (aged 14 to 20) in the greater Los Angeles area. Contestants will apply via audition on a CD-R or mp3; finalists will be invited to a live audition. The top three will receive cash awards totaling $1,000, and the number-one choice will play a solo with the Winds at their spring concert.
To be eligible, contestants must be in high school or the first year of college, where they are a member of the band or orchestra in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino or Riverside counties. The first place winner will receive $700, with $200 for second place and $100 for third. The band director at the winning student’s school will also receive $100 for the school’s music programs.
The Claremont Winds is a nonprofit organization founded in 1986 as a forum for local adults to play selections from the literature for wind ensembles. Dr. Tony Mazzaferro, Chairman of the Music Department at Fullerton College in Fullerton, CA, has been its permanent conductor since 1993. Besides its Claremont concert series, the semi-professional group also regularly performs at Disneyland and summer concerts in Claremont and other local communities.
Additional information about the competition may be found on the Winds’ web site at http://www.claremontwinds.org. Applications with audition recordings must be postmarked or e-mailed by November 30, 2007. Auditions will be held January 12 & 13, with the winner(s) announced in early February. The winner will perform at the May 17 concert at 7:30 p.m. in Garrison Theater in Claremont.