Lois Lyman Concerto Competition ’23-‘24 Student Guidelines
Competition Date
The competition will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2024 at the College of St. Rose, Albany. (Snow Date Sun., Jan. 21). The winner will perform with the ESYO Symphony Orchestra as part of the April 21, 2024 concert at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.
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. 20.
You will be notified by email when approval has been granted.
Application Deadline
The application and $25.00 participation fee are due by Nov. 17 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 April 21. 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 4. 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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
