Berkshire Lyric Young Musician's Scholarship
PITTSFIELD, Mass. - Berkshire Lyric announces the Ninth Annual Young Musician’s Scholarship auditions. Auditions will be held at Kimball Farms in Lenox on March 21 and 22. The application deadline is February 28. Applicants should prepare two pieces and are requested to provide their own accompanist if needed.Applications will be sent out to area music teachers, or may be picked up at the Berkshire Athenaeum or at the Berkshire Music School, or by calling Anna Stevenson of the Scholarship Committee at 413-442-5968. Cash prizes will be awarded to young musician’s age 13 to 21 who are residents of the Berkshires. There are categories for both instrumentalists and singers. The winners’ concert will take place at Trinity Church in Lenox on Sunday April 5.
The Young Musician’s Scholarship Fund was established in 2000 with the sole purpose of assisting promising young musicians from our area in pursuing their education in music. Past winners have gone on to study at some of the leading conservatories and schools of music in America. At the April 5 concert, the finalists will be showcased along with The Blafield Children’s Chorus. "The Joy Barnes Award," in memory of Joy Barnes, the past president of the Berkshire Lyric Chorus, is awarded in the vocal category and the "Emma Blafield Award," in memory of the mother of Berkshire Lyric’s founding director, Bob Blafield, is presented in the instrumental category.
Berkshire Lyric is a community arts organization founded in 1963. In addition to sponsoring the Young Musician’s Scholarship Program, Berkshire Lyric presents concerts throughout the year by the Berkshire Lyric Chorus and the Blafield Children’s Chorus. The annual Kick the Winter Blues concert will be on March 15 and features the music of Ireland and Scotland this year.
The Spring Oratorio Concert will be on May 16 and features the music of Mozart and Stravinsky. Berkshire Lyric's twin goals are to encourage the art of fine choral singing in the Berkshires and to provide creative music education opportunities for young people. To that end, it has established a college choral festival that takes place every spring, and the Berkshire Lyric Choral Scholars Program that identifies and nurtures top vocalists at area high schools. For more information about their programs, visit their website at www.BerkshireLyricTheatre.org or call Artistic Director, Jack Brown at 413-298-5365.
Donations for the Scholarship Fund are gratefully accepted and may be sent to The Berkshire Lyric Theatre, Inc., P.O. Box 347, Pittsfield, MA 01202.
