CLASSICAL MPR KICKS OFF ITS ANNUAL TEEN TALENT SHOWCASE

Oct 9, 2014

Now in its fifth year, Minnesota Varsity is a classical music showcase for instrumentalists, vocalists and composers, aged 14 to 18. Semifinalists will record in the prestigious Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio at MPR headquarters in St. Paul. Classical MPR will air the students' pieces on air and online, and finalists will perform -- or hear the premiere of their compositions -- in a live broadcast from the Fitzgerald Theater. Minnesota Varsity showcases the top high-school musical talent from Minnesota, bordering states, and Sun Valley, Id. Details and entry form at classicalmpr.org/varsity. The deadline for submission is December 5.

Applying for the program is easy--all that is required is an online application; a recording of an instrumental or vocal performance (smartphone recordings are accepted); or an original score for clarinet, French horn, and piano, or any solo or combination of those three instruments.

In mid-January, MPR judges will select ten to fifteen entrants for the Featured Round. Those artists will then be invited to record their pieces at MPR's Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio. Featured Round composers will participate in a day-long composer workshop session to be held at American Composer Forum's headquarters at the Landmark Center in February.

In March, four of the Featured Round Artists will be selected as Showcase Artists by a panel of celebrity judges and one by an online Audience Vote. Two Showcase Composers will be selected by American Composers Forum.

The finalists for both performance and composition categories perform on stage at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul on April 19, 2015 in a live radio broadcast. The Showcase Composers' works will be premiered at the Fitzgerald Theater as part of the live broadcast.

Minnesota Public Radio® (MPR) operates a 44-station radio network serving nearly all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states. Reaching 900,000 listeners each week, MPR and its three regional services--MPR News, Classical MPR and The Current--produce programming for radio, online and face-to-face audiences. Programs produced by MPR's parent company, American Public Media™, reach 18 million listeners on more than 900 radio stations nationwide each week. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be found at minnesotapublicradio.org. Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc. Arbitron data are estimates only.