Early Music America offers a variety of competitions for performers. EMA has managed three recording competitions (two with the Dorian label and one with Naxos) and three Medieval/Renaissance performance competitions. Click here to read testimonials from past competitions winners. (From Summer 2010; PDF file; 63KB)
EMA Baroque Performance Competition 2012
Early Music America will sponsor a new Baroque Performance Competition for the purpose of encouraging the development of emerging artists in the performance of Baroque music. Applications are due by May 1, 2012. Click here for more information about the application process, timetable, prizes and judging.
Naxos Recording Competition 2011
Early Music America and Naxos held a new recording competition for early music soloists and ensembles, whose prize included a debut commercial CD recording, which will be produced and marketed by Naxos. Wayward Sisters, a Baroque ensemble specializing in 17th-century music, was announced the winner in September. Click here to read the press release. The purpose of this competition is to promote the career development of emerging early music artists.
Medieval/Renaissance Performance Competition
Early Music America, with the support of a generous individual donor, has sponsored three Medieval/Renaissance Performance Competitions in 2009, 2006 and 2004. The purpose of this competition is to encourage the development of emerging artists in the performance of medieval and Renaissance music.
2009 Unicorn Prize and Audience Prize Winner: Plaine & Easie (Linda Tsatsanis, soprano; Shulamit Kleinerman, Renaissance violin; John Lenti, lute; and Nathan Whittaker, bass violin/cello); Seattle, WA. Click here for 2009 competition photos.
2006 Unicorn Prize Winner: Ensemble La Rota (Sarah Barnes, soprano; Tobie Miller, recorder, hurdy gurdy, voice; Émilie Brûlé, vielle; Esteban La Rotta, lute, harp voice); Montreal, QC.
Click here for 2006 competition photos.
2004 Unicorn Prize Winner: Asteria (Sylvia Rhyne, soprano; Eric Redlinger, tenor and lute); New York, NY
Collegium Musicum Grant
In 2010-2011, Early Music America offered 5 grants of $1,000 each to college or university Early Music Ensembles for the purpose of supporting the ensemble's travel to perform a fringe concert at EMA's Young Peformers Festival, in conjunction with the Boston Early Music Festival.
2011 Recipients: CWRU Renaissance Violin Band and Collegium Singers, directed by Julie Andrijeski and Debra Nagy; McGill University Baroque Orchestra, directed by Hank Knox; Oberlin Conservatory Baroque Ensemble, directed by David Breitman et al; University of North Texas Baroque Orchestra and Collegium Singers, directed by Richard Sparks and Paul Leenhouts; University of Southern California Collegium Musicum and Baroque Sinfonia, directed by Adam Gilbert
2010 Recipient: Early Music Ensemble from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, directed by Adam Knight Gilbert
2009 Recipients: ¡Sacabuche! directed by Linda Pearse (Indiana University's Early Music Institute, Bloomington, IN); UNT Baroque Orchestra and Collegium Singers directed by Lyle Nordstrom (University of North Texas, Denton, TX)
2007 Recipient: Stony Brook Baroque Players directed by Arthur Haas; (SUNY Stony Brook, NY)
Cellege-Level Ensemble Development Grant
The College-Level Ensemble Development Grant is offered to a college or university Early Music Ensemble to support a specific project that will enrich or broaden the education experience of the students, and help to elevate the profile of ensemble of campus, in the community, or nationally.
2011 Recipient: The University of Texas at Austin Early Music Ensemble, directed by Guido Olivieri; supporting "The Intermezzo Project, which included an edition and fully staged performance of Domenico Sarri's 18th-century intermezzo "Dorina e Nibbio."
Outreach Grant
EMA’s Outreach Grant supports outreach and/or educational projects for children or adults by ensembles and individual artists. Click here for more information.
Here is a link to Naxos Music Direct.