Revised Sept 2017

Robert & Ellen Silverman Piano Concerto Competition @ UBC

Guidelines

[All info below is subject to change]

Overview for the 2018 Competition

Competition Date and Venue: 6-10pm March 2, 2018 – Barnett Recital Hall

Performance Date and Venue: Chan Center - Sunday September 23rd, 2018 at 2pm

Applications Due: Nov. 1st 2017

Eligibility: All currently enrolled UBC undergraduate and graduate piano students in
good standing.

Audition length: 20 minutes [may need revising]

Audition repertoire: A complete concerto must be chosen from the competition

repertoire list.

Adjudicators: David Vanderyk (confirmed as of 9/5/17) and ___________________

Award Structure: Performances (no monetary award for 2018)

Detail

1) Starting with the 2017-18 academic year, the Robert and Ellen Silverman Piano
Concerto Competition will provide an internal competition for UBC Piano Majors
which provides opportunities for students to perform with the UBC Symphony
Orchestra at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
2) The inaugural competition will take place on the evening of March 2nd in Barnett
Recital Hall in the UBC music building. The jury will choose one “Grand Prize
Winner” and multiple “Prize-Winners”, who are guaranteed a concerto
performance with the UBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jonathan Girard.
The Grand Prize Winner will perform his or her entire concerto with the
orchestra. Other Prize Winners will perform a part (usually a single movement)
of their concerto with the orchestra on the same program, as time and
programming permits. There will also be two Runners-up, who may be offered
the possibility to perform a concerto or movement of a concerto, should any of
the winners become unable to perform in the concerto concert. The concert will
take place in September of the same calendar year as the competition. A
graduating student will be in a position to return to UBC for the performance.
3) The Robert and Ellen Silverman Piano Concerto Competition will be held every
two years, beginning in 2018.
Revised Sept 2017

4) Competition announcement dates and details will be booked and announced by

October 1st of the previous year.
5) In order to compete, a student must be in good standing in the UBC School of
Music. A School of Music piano faculty member must sign the application form,
affirming that they are currently teaching the student and that they will oversee
the student’s preparation for the performance should they be a winner in the
competition.
6) Applications are due by Nov.1st in the academic year that the competition will
take place.
7) A student may not compete if they have already been the winner (or a
performing runner-up) of the Robert and Ellen Silverman Piano Concerto
Competition during their current degree program. A runner up who did not have
an opportunity to perform with orchestra is eligible to compete again.
8) Competing students are to prepare a complete concerto from a list distributed by
UBC keyboard division faculty. The list of available concerti may change each
time the competition is offered.
9) All competitors must play from memory.
10)In the competition, all concertos must be performed with "orchestra," in the
form of a collaborative pianist. UBC professors are not allowed to play the
orchestra part for students. Students are encouraged to engage other UBC
students play the orchestra role.
11)Double or triple concertos are not allowed for the 2017-18 competition and only
concerti on the concerto repertoire list for the competition are eligible choices.
12)Winners must play the same concerto on the winner’s concert that they played
in the competition.
13)One copy of the score must be provided to the jurors during the competition (no
photocopies).
14)There will be a 20-minute time limit for each competitor. The jury may interrupt
at any point and ask for other sections or movements of the concerto.
15)Relatively long orchestral tuttis should be shortened with cuts.
16)The jury will consist of at least two jurors from outside UBC.
17)Winners of the UBC Concerto Competition may compete in the Robert and Ellen
Silverman Piano Concerto Competition, however they cannot compete with the
same concerto with which they won the UBC Concerto Competition.
18)Both the competition and the performance are open to the public.
19)Rehearsals will be open to the public. All students are encouraged to attend to
observe concerto rehearsal techniques and process.