The 2010 Classical Marimba League Artist Competition deadline is today Monday February 1, 2010. Submit your applications with a postmark no later than today to participate in this year’s competition.
The winner of the competition will perform at the University of Minnesota as part of the Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference. I will be in the audience this year to listen to the winner. I am not sure if that is motivation or not for submitting an application but I sure am looking forward to it!
I personally am not a fan of music competitions because there’s no way to really say one person is better than the next, it’s all a matter of opinion. However, my opinion on the subject changes depending on the prize and the process. The Classical Marimba League is definitely an exception to my opinion. The fact that they have an accompanying composition competition, and that the prize for the marimba competition is a performance that includes some of those new works is so refreshing. I really feel that because of this they are helping to develop and further our instrument’s literature.
However, I was disappointed that they included a required piece for a 5 octave marimba with piano accompaniment. This meant that I was not able to apply (which would have been my first time applying for the competition). However, I look forward to hearing the winner, and seeing the winning compositions. Good luck to all who apply!
Thanks Chris. I also agree that the Classical Marimba League is a great forum to see new compositions as well as see new performers play. I was fortunate to see last year’s winners here at the University of Minnesota and this year will be the same as this competition is part of Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference. The piano accompaniment aspect always more logistically challenging so I agree with that point too. I was happy to see that this year’s contest web site had a computer version of the performance so you could at least get an idea of what the piece was before starting the adventure.