The 2016 Big Bend Community Orchestra Young Artist Competition will be held on Saturday, December 10, 2016, beginning at 8:15 AM. First Place winners will perform at the 2/11/17 BBCO concert and will receive a $100 cash award! Winners in the Age 15-18 and 11-14 categories will perform with the orchestra. The Age 7-10 winner will perform with string quartet and optional piano. Second Place winners will receive a $50 cash award! Cash prizes will be presented at the 2/11/17 BBCO concert. (All prizes are subject to the complete competition rules). The concert location is Turner Auditorium on the campus of Tallahassee Community College.

COMPETITION LOCATION: Room CH165 in the Communications and Humanities Building at Tallahassee Community College, 444 Appleyard Dr., Tallahassee, FL.

COMPLETE COMPETITION RULES and INFORMATION: https://www.bbcorch.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/BBCO-YAC-Competition-2016-2017.pdf

THE APPLICATION DEADLINE IS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19TH AT MIDNIGHT. A $20 application fee applies. Students compete in one of three age categories: 7-10, 11-14, or 15-18. The winners' concert will take place on Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 3:30 PM.

ENTER VIA MAIL, OR ON-LINE AT: https://www.bbcorch.org/young-artist-competition/

1. The competition is open to instrumentalists who play violin, viola, cello, string bass, guitar, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, harp or percussion.

2. Candidates must reside in Leon, Calhoun, Gadsden, Franklin, Gulf, Jackson, Jefferson, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, or Wakulla counties in Florida or in Brooks, Colquitt, Decatur, Grady, Lowndes, Mitchell, Thomas, or Seminole counties in Georgia.

3. The competition is open to musicians in grades 1–12 whose ages fit within one of the competition’s three competitive categories, based on the age of the applicant at the time of the competition: Age 7-10, 11-14, or 15-18.

4. The applicant may enter on only one instrument in a given year. First-place winners are disqualified from participating in the year immediately following their award, unless the applicant’s age in the following year allows him or her to compete in the next-higher-level-age-based competitive category.

[See the complete rules at the link listed above.]