Scholarships & Awards Program
The purpose of this program is to:
• support the development of young musicians in the Halton area;
• find and develop new players for the orchestra
• encourage cultural diversity in the youth of the community.
To these ends, the Oakville Symphony Orchestra offers three awards:
The Young Artist Awards
The Kenneth Hollier Award
Developing Artist Awards
The Young Artist Awards, introduced in 1998, are scholarships available to players of string instruments between the ages of 16 and 23. The recipients of the awards receive $1,500 for playing a season with the Oakville Symphony where rehearsals on every Monday night are mandatory. The opportunity presents the players exposure to other talented string players under the leadership of Roberto De Clara.
There will be five scholarships awarded for the 2009-2010 season. These will be sponsored by Margie & Bill Andrews, Bruce & Marie Claassen, two by the RBC Foundation and David & Gillian Santangeli and Jean & Ian Grieve. For the 2008-2009 season the recipients are: Gabrielle Klein, violin; Vilija Hakala, viola; George Crotty, ‘cello; Kendra Grittani, ‘cello and Max McLarty, ‘cello.
The Kenneth Hollier Award is named in honour of the first Musical Director of the Oakville Symphony and is open to local musicians who play orchestral instruments between the ages of 16 and 21. The competition is held in May and alternates annually between string instruments and non-string instruments. In 2010 it will be non-string instruments. The prize for the winner is $500 and is sponsored by the RBC Financial Group.
The 2009 winner of the Kenneth Hollier Award is Leslie Ashworth a talented 12 year old violinist.
Developing Artist Awards are a component of the Kenneth Hollier competition and are awarded at the judges' discretion to outstanding competitors of High School age. The accompanying prize is $200.
In 2009, two Developing Artist Awards were won by Tyra Sweet, viola, and Sophia Stoltz, violin.
The orchestra accepts applications for both the Young Artists Awards and the Kenneth Hollier Awards during the month of April.
The application should state name, age, address, e-mail, phone number, instrument, and award of interest.
Applications should be sent to Martin Levman at Box 312, Campbellville, Ontario, L0P 1B0 or mlevman@sympatico.ca.
Additional information regarding these awards can be obtained by contacting Martin Levman at the above address or 905-854-1769.
Auditions are held in mid-May.
