Vivaldi Competition

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Application fee waivers are available upon request to those who meet certain conditions.
Learn more here

Eligibility

The Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition is open to all cis and trans women, as well as non-binary people comfortable in spaces that center the experiences of women who are citizens of the Americas (North America, Central America, South America), or who are enrolled in school in the Americas during the year prior to the competition and who will not have reached their 26th birthday by the competition in January of 2023.

Mission

The mission of the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition is to provide an international competition of the highest caliber for young bassoonists in the Americas who are cis women, trans women, or non-binary individuals who are comfortable in a space that centers the experiences of women. By participating in the competition these individuals will build their confidence, hone their talents, and receive valuable experience towards performance careers. The organization will provide financial support, performance experience, artistic reinforcement, and inspiration through mentorship with world-class professionals. Each competition will feature a required repertoire piece by a living womxn composer, and will require speaking to the audience in order to cultivate in the young competitors a commitment to audience engagement and community involvement in the arts.

The name of the competition derives from the rich legacy of composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), who spent much of his prolific career working at a conservatory for young girls, the Seminario Musicale dell’Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. The spirit of creativity and benefaction of this competition is dedicated to Meg Quigley, an artist who had a passion for assisting young women in realizing their full potential.

Prizes

Awarding $26,000 USD in Cash Prizes

First Prize: US $10,000
Second Prize: US $5,500
Third Prize: US $2,500
Two Honorable Mentions: US $1500 each
Five Semifinalist Awards: US $1000 each

Additional Prizes for 10 Semifinalists

  • Free registration for Meg Quigley Symposium, $300 value

  • Free housing for 6 nights in Tuscon, AZ

  • Pre-symposium professional development opportunities

Judging

Judging will occur in three rounds: preliminary, semi-final, and final.

Repertoire

The Scott and Vivaldi scores can be purchased from Trevco or Forrests
The Escalzo and Wilson scores must be purchased directly from the composers on their websites

Preliminary Round (accompaniment required)

Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto in A Minor, RV 499
-Complete concerto with piano accompaniment
-Second movement with repeats
-The use of accompaniments other than piano (strings, harpsichord, recordings) is not allowed
Jeff Scott, Elegy for Innocence (2008)
Jacqueline Wilson, Dance Suite (2021)—two movements of your choice

Semifinal Round

Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto in A Minor, RV 499
-Complete concerto with second movement with repeats
Noelia Escalzo, Argenta (2016)

Final Round

Vivaldi
-Complete Concerto from memory with second movement repeats
Jacqueline Wilson, Dance Suite (2021)—two movements of your choice
Noelia Escalzo, Argenta (2016)

Preliminary Round

Since our launching in 2005, the Meg Quigley organization has been committed to developing young performer’s audience engagement skills. Previous to this year, our innovative speaking from the stage requirement was only for those chosen for the semi and final rounds. This video speaking requirement is a new addition to the 2023 competition, providing all applicants with valuable experience in this area.

In an unedited continuous video of no more than three minutes in length, introduce yourself and discuss one or both of the topics below. Please speak in the language of your choice. When shooting your introduction video, be mindful of the placement of your camera and microphone to ensure your facial expressions and words can be clearly seen and heard. This introduction video should consist of only your original spoken thoughts as you would speak from the stage, and should not include contributions from other individuals or any digital media or music. Your video will be evaluated based on your stage presence, clarity of speech, connection with the audience, and impact of the content. 

  • Discuss how your background, identity, personal path, and/or lived experience informs who you are as a musician now, and how you envision this manifesting as you embark on your career as an artist citizen.

  • Describe a problem that you observe in the field of classical music, who this problem impacts, why it is important to address, and what artistic steps you will take to work toward a solution.

Your performances of the preliminary round repertoire will be upload to the Acceptd website during the application window as audio files - no video is allowed in the preliminary round outside of the spoken introduction. Each movement of the preliminary round repertoire is uploaded to the Acceptd application as a separate file. While each movement must be a continuous unedited performance you may record individual movements of each complete work separately.

Please upload your speaking video to the Acceptd website as a separate file labeled only as 'introduction. Filetype' . The Acceptd website supports the following video file formats: MPEG, MPG, MP4, OGG, MOV, AVI, WMV, M4V, VOB, FLV

Applications will be accepted starting at 9:00am PST on October 1, 2022 Apply Here!
All submissions must be received by 11:59pm PST on October 15, 2022

Semi-Final and Final Rounds

Up to ten applicants will be chosen to compete in the semi-final round in a concert format, open to the public, at the 2023 Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and Bassoon Symposium. The symposium and competition will take place in January 2023. A professional accompanist (including one hour of rehearsal) will be provided by the MQVC; however, the semi-finalist may use an accompanist of her own choosing at her own expense. The judges may elect to award fewer prizes than outlined above, or no prizes at all. The judges' decision, announced after deliberations immediately following the final round, is final.

Audience Engagement Component: In the final round, the finalist should be prepared to speak to the audience about the works she is performing. These brief introductions to the works (1-2 minutes each) should demonstrate skill in audience engagement as well as knowledge of the work. This unusual element in the competition is in keeping with changing trends in the music industry, recognizing that the relationship between performer and audience has shifted and speaking skills are becoming more and more necessary.

Questions

Do you have a question about the competition or the submission process? Please contact Darrell Hale at submissions@mqvc.org