Leonard Slatkin Holiday Piano Project

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is proud to present the 2010 Leonard Slatkin Holiday Piano Project. Student pianists will compete for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform on Orchestra Hall stage with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in a holiday Pops Concert conducted by Leonard Slatkin.

In the competition, each pianist will be asked to perform two pieces of piano music arranged by Leonard Slatkin and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. The arrangements are selections from Holidays for Piano and Strings, Volume 1 and 2 from the Leonard Slatkin Youth Orchestra Series. Five winners will be selected after two rounds of competition to appear in a DSO Holiday Pops Concert in December.

Student Eligibility:
• Student must be in grades 4 through 8 in the 2010-11 school year
• Students must live in one of the following counties to participate: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw
• Students must be able to perform music from memory throughout each round of the competition

Application Process:
The application is available by clicking here.

Please note that there is a $15.00 application fee that will cover administrative and audition costs. This can be paid by check or money order to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and must be included with the application in order for the student to be scheduled for an audition.

Once the DSO receives an application and there are still audition spots available, each student will be scheduled for an audition time on Sunday, September 26, 2010. Your audition time and information will be sent to you by email. If there are no audition spots available, your application and $15.00 fee will be returned to you.

Music by Region:
There are ten Christmas arrangements which have been divided into five pairs. Each pair has been assigned to one of five regions which are been listed below. Students are asked to memorize only the pair of arrangements that applies to the region that they live in. There are a limited number of audition spots per region and applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis per their region. The postmark deadline for applications is Wednesday, September 10, 2010.

Regions:
Pair 1: Wayne
Pair 2: East Oakland County (East of Woodward/east of Dixie Hwy north of Pontiac)
Pair 3: West Oakland County (West of Woodward/west of Dixie Hwy north of Pontiac)
Pair 4: Macomb
Pair 5: Washtenaw

How and where do I get the music?
The music is available to print from a password protected page by clicking here. The password can be obtained by downloading the application.  Please note that use of these electronic parts are permitted for audition ues only.

Calendar for Audition Process:
(Interested students must be able to attend all audition, rehearsal and concert dates listed below)
Wednesday, September 10: Postmark deadline for applications
Sunday, September 26: Preliminary round of auditions
Sunday, November 21: Finals round of auditions
Week of December 13: Rehearsal(s) with Leonard Slatkin and the DSO in Orchestra Hall
Performance: Each finalist will be assigned, by DSO personnel, to perform their regional selections at one of the DSO Holiday Pops Concerts listed below.
         Dec. 16 at 10:45am or 8:00pm,
         Dec. 17 at 8:30pm
         Dec. 18 at 3:00pm or 8:30pm
         Dec. 19 at 3:00pm

Questions?
For additional information, please call the DSO Education Department at 313-576-5499 or email charris@dso.org or kellis@dso.org.