Events

2020 Rotary/Music in the Mountains Young Musicians Competition Announced

Music in the Mountains and Rotary Clubs of Western Nevada County announce their first joint Young Musicians Competition. With nearly 50 years experience in youth contests between them, these two well-respected community organizations will hold their first jointly-sponsored local competition in March 2020.

Several of our local talented young musicians have competed in both MIM and Rotary competitions in years past. One is Sage Po, who fell in love with the harp at age eight and studied locally with Lisa Stine. In 2008, she first won Rotary Club and Area level contests and then the Rotary District Competition First Place prize of $1000. In 2010, she won First Place in MIM’s competition. She has since achieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Harp Performance and a Certificate in Music Education from Carnegie Mellon University. Po has played with numerous orchestras around the U.S. and regularly performs with Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra and with the Sierra Master Chorale and Orchestra. She is currently a concert artist, chamber musician, and music educator. Rotary and MIM are proud to have offered Po these competition opportunities early in her musical career.

The first jointly sponsored Young Musicians Competition will be held on Saturday, March 21, 2020. On the following Saturday, March 28, 2020, a Showcase Concert will be held, during which the top twelve solo finalists will be invited to perform for the public.

This instrumental competition will have 4 age level divisions: Division #1, Grades 3 and 4; Division #2, Grades 5 and 6; Division #3, Grades 7 and 8; and Division #4, Grades 9 through 12. Each division will have solo competitions in Piano/Harp, Strings, Woodwinds/Brass, and Miscellaneous. Written critiques will be given in all divisions, and participation certificates will be awarded in the two younger divisions. Prize money of up to $100 in Division 3 and up to $200 in Division 4 will be awarded to applicants living or studying music in Nevada, Sierra, Placer, Sutter, Butte, or Yuba Counties.

The top Division #4 winner from Western Nevada County (excluding Truckee) will advance to the Rotary District Competition in Sparks, NV in May, where the top prizes are $1000, $500, and $250.

For both Music in the Mountains and Rotary, education has long been a vital component. We look forward to this new partnership in providing competition experience for our young musicians.

Applications are available to download online at musicinthemountains.org or NCRotary.org. For more information, contact Marge Shasberger at the MIM office 530-265-6173 or marges@musicinthemountains.org.