This year's contest offers cash prizes totalling R106 000 as well as Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. The shadow jury will vote on the UNISA Shadow Jury prize of R2000 for the best semi-finalist who does not become the finalist.
Twenty-five highly talented musicians between the ages of 14 and 19 have been selected from 62 entrants at auditions held across the country. Six provinces are represented in the event. This is the third largest competition of its kind in South Africa.
"This competition caters for emerging musicians who are too young for the UNISA International Music and the ATKV Muziq competitions. It is also the only event of its kind where the finalists play for top honours in the final round with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO). This year maestro, Victor Yampolsky, will conduct the orchestra," said Michael Maas, CEO of Artscape, adding: "By introducing a shadow jury, Artscape multiplies its skills development objectives by training former contestants to become future music adjudicators."
There are nine classical pianists, nine string instrumentalists and seven wind instrumentalists competing in three categories, namely piano, string instruments, wind instruments. There are no participants in the fourth category for other orchestral instruments.
All participants will play in the first two rounds, after which the first elimination takes place. A maximum of 12 competitors will then go through to the third round and the final six contenders will perform with the CPO at a gala concert on Saturday, 13 October at 7.30pm in the Artscape Theatre.
The eight adjudicators for the competition are prominent academics and musicians from across South Africa. They are: Franklin Leary (Cape Town), Anneke Lamont (Joburg), Michael Maas (CEO of Artscape), Brandon Phillips (Cape Philharmonic Orchestra), Suzanne Martens (Cape Town), Bridget Rennie-Salonen (Cape Town), Denise Sutton (Free State University) and Shadrack Bokaba (Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra). Their expertise covers all the instruments represented in the competition.
The shadow jury consists of David Bester (US) on strings, Francois Botha (UCT) on piano), Irene Kim (US) on piano), Levi Alexander (UCT) on wind and Thatiana Thaele (UCT) on wind).
All four rounds take place at the Artscape Theatre and are open to the public. Entrance is free for the first three, and tickets for the final round cost R100 per person or R40 for pensioners, students and schools. For block bookings of 10 or more, there is a 10 percent discount. Book through Computicket, Artscape Dial-a- Seat +27 (0)21 421 7695, Shoprite, Checkers, Pick 'n Pay outlets or online www.computicket.com.
The 2012 participants
