Chamber Artists Note 2Nd Year With Contest

This is the week for young musicians. In addition to tonight’s 50th anniversary concert by the Spokane Youth Symphony, Spokane’s Junior Chamber Artists celebrates its anniversary as well - its second - with its annual Festival-Competition on Monday.

Twenty ensembles of high school and junior high musicians will complete for cash prizes, faculty awards and - new to this year’s competition - awards for the top three ensembles based on audience votes.

The event begins at 4 p.m. at The Met. Admission is free.

Founded by pianist Aida Ribeiro, a faculty member at Holy Names Music Center, Junior Chamber Artists provides coaching sessions, music theory classes, workshops and master classes to the 60 students enrolled in the program.

Coaching sessions are given by teachers at the center, many of whom are members of the Spokane Symphony. Master classes use professional musicians from the rosters of guest artists appearing with the symphony, the Spokane String Quartet and Zephyr, as well as master teachers from Northwest colleges and universities.

A jury of four professional musicians will award competition prizes Monday. “But this year, we want the audience to make a choice, too, just as is done in the great international music competitions,” Ribeiro says.

“For this to be a success, of course, we need to have more than just the families and close friends of the students in our audience.”

Winners of the top three awards will receive cash prizes and will be featured in live studio performances on public radio station KPBX-FM (91.1).