LOIS LYMAN CONCERTO COMPETITION

The Lois Lyman Concerto Competition is named after music teacher and one of ESYO’s founding members, Lois Lyman. It began in 1985. The winner is selected through a rigorous application and performance process from amongst Symphony Orchestra, Youth Jazz Orchestra and Youth Percussion Ensembles’ membership each year, representing some of the area’s finest musicians. Applicants must perform a concerto before a panel of judges. The winner performs his/her concerto with the Symphony Orchestra that season.

Guidelines for Applicants

Competition Date: The competition will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Location: TBA

Snow Date Sun., Jan. 19. The winner will perform with the ESYO Symphony Orchestra as part of the March 30, 2025 concert at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

Please share the following guidelines with your teacher.

Eligibility/Choice of Competition Music:

The competition is open to members of the Symphony Orchestra, Youth Jazz Orchestra and Youth Percussion Ensemble.

Previous ESYO Lois Lyman Concerto Competition Winners are not eligible to re-apply for consideration during the season following their concerto performance.
Applications will be accepted for all orchestral instruments including percussion and piano.
Applicants may audition on only one instrument in any given year, and it need not necessarily be the instrument played in their ESYO ensemble.
Applicants may choose any concerto or other published work for solo (soloists) with orchestral accompaniment. The work must be pre- approved by the Music Director before you submit the application. (Permission is partly dependent upon the availability of parts and score.) The length of the concerto must not exceed 30 minutes, unless pre-approved by the Music Director.

Your repertoire selection must be submitted for approval by Oct. 24.

You will be notified by email when approval has been granted.

Application Deadline

The application and $25.00 participation fee are due by Nov. 15 the deadline will be strictly enforced. No applications will be accepted after the deadline, and any applications that were submitted in time but were incomplete (for example, lacking the name of your accompanist) must be completed by the deadline or the applicant will be removed from consideration.

Preparation and Competition Audition

For both the audition and performance applicants are required to play from memory, unless, as per standard performance practice, this requirement has been waived by the Music Director. Applicants will be permitted to have music available at the audition only to facilitate finding particular sections in the concerto as requested by the judges.
Applicants must prepare the entire concerto, but the judges will determine what portions of your piece will be played during the audition. The length of the audition will be ten minutes.
Applicants must provide the judges with a clean photocopy of their music.
Applicants must provide their own accompanist and must supply the required information about the accompanist on their application.
Warm-up rooms will be available on the day of the competition. Percussionists and pianists will warm up in the audition room because of audition set-up considerations and, for pianists, the use of an unfamiliar instrument.
With the exception of the judges, the accompanist, page-turners for the accompanist (if needed), and the individual applicant at their scheduled time, no one (such as family or teachers) is allowed in the audition room during the audition.

Competition Results

Judges will select a first and second place winner. ESYO reserves the right to declare no winner based upon the decision of the judges.
Applicants will be notified by email or phone of the judges’ decision within 48 hours of the competition.
The winner will perform the entire concerto with the Symphony Orchestra on March 30. The work selected for the audition will be the piece the winner performs at the concert.
The 2nd place winner may be invited to perform a movement (or movements) of their piece with the Repertory Orchestra on May 3. The decision will be made by the Repertory Orchestra Conductor and the Music Director.
Participants will receive a copy of their adjudication forms.

If you have any questions about your application and/or participation in the competition, please contact Sue Lascoe, ESYO Operations Director, at slascoe@esyo.org

Application Form Deadlines

To participate, Symphony Orchestra members must fill out the following forms by the indicated deadlines:

Concerto Competition Repertoire Approval Form due Oct. 24th, 2024
Concerto Competition Application due Nov. 15, 2024

Concerto Competition-Previous Winners

2022-23
- Yu-Heng Wang, viola
  Bartók Viola Concerto, Op. posth (ed. Serly)
- William Lauricella, piano
  Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
2021-2022
- Eujeong Choi, cello
  Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85
2020-21
- No competition
2019-20
- William Luaricella, piano
  Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102
2018-19
- William Han, cello
  Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 107, Dmitri Shostakovich
2017-18
- Gabrielle Kim, piano
  Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, Edvard Grieg
2016-2017
- Aram Kim, violin
  Violin Concerto No. 5 in A minor, Op. 37, Henri Vieuxtemps
2015-2016
- Michael Zhu, violin
  The Lark Ascending, Ralph Vaughan Williams
2014-2015
- Hannah Dick, percussion
  Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra, Op. 12, Ney Rosauro
2013-2014
- Clare Criscione, violin
  Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61, Camille Saint-Saëns
2012-2013
- Jacob Efthimiou, cello
  Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op.33, Camille Saint-Saëns
2011-2012
- Lisa Liu, violin
  The Butterfly Lovers, by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao
2010-2011
- Turi Scilipoti, flute
  Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, by Jacques Ibert
2009-2010
- Zachary Evans, violin
  Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21, by Édouard Lalo
2008-2009
- Ryan Reilly, piano
  Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, S. 124, by Franz Liszt
2007-2008
- Anthony Bellino, trumpet
  Proclamation, by Ernest Bloch
2006-2007
- Leo Brown, violin
  Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20
2005-2006
- Jack Qian, violin
  Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64, by Felix Mendelssohn
2004-2005
- Eric Zhou, violin
  The Butterfly Lovers, by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao
2003-2004
- James Benoit, marimba
  Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints, Op. 211, by Alan Hovhaness
2002-2003
- Kathryn Andersen, violin
  Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21, by Édouard Lalo
2001-2002
- Ashley Bathgate, cello
  Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129, by Robert Schumann
1999-2000
- Ashley Bathgate, cello
  Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33, by Camille Saint-Saëns
1998-1999
- Benjamin Chan, violin
  Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61, by Ludwig van Beethoven
1997-1998
- Felice Kuan, piano
  Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, by Edvard Grieg
1996-1997
- Jonathan Chu, violin
  Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 61, by Camille Saint-Saëns
1995-1996
- Adrienne Chamberlain, French horn
  Concerto #1 by Richard Strauss
1994-1995
- Jennifer Chu, piano
  Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25, by Felix Mendelssohn
1993-1994
- Marisa Range, piano
  Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22, by Camille Saint-Saëns
1992-1993
- Nathan Lawrence, violin
  Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
1991-1992
- Clancy Newman, cello
  Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104, by Antonín Dvořák
1990-1991
- Emily Greitzer, violin
  Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21, by Édouard Lalo
1989-1990
- Meg Bragle, violin
  Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, by Samuel Barber
1988-1989
- Michelle Fenton, bassoon
  Concerto in B flat Major, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Stefon Harris, marimba
  Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints, by Alan Hovhaness
1987-1988
- Martha Pushee, piano
  Concerto No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 19, by Ludwig van Beethoven
1986-1987
- Dana Gooley, piano
  Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25, by Felix Mendelssohn
- Lisa Cole, clarinet
  Concerto in A Major, K. 622, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1985-1986
- Joyce Ryu, violin
  Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64

Kingson Czajkovski & William Lauricella

Watch their magical Marimba duet on our Virtual Concert Hall

William Lauricella, Piano

Watch his 2023 Piano Concerto on our Virtual Concert Hall