WAMSO Young Artist Competition in January. (Competitions).

The 2004 WAMSO Young Artist Competition for Piano and Orchestral Instruments will take place January 24-25 in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Sponsored by WAMSO Minnesota Orchestra Volunteers Association in cooperation with the Minnesota Orchestra, the competition is designed to encourage and promote accomplished young artists in the region and provide opportunities for advanced study.

The Grand Award winner will receive $1,000 from the Minnesota Orchestra Association in honor of Isaac Stern for his dedication to young artists, in addition to a performance with the Minnesota Orchestra. The First Prize WAMSO Young Artist Award winner will receive $3,000, while the

First Prize WAMSO Achievement Award winner will receive $2,250, both also to perform with the Minnesota Orchestra. The Second and Third Prize WAMSO Awards are worth $2,500 and $1,000 respectively. Other prizes include the Ehrma Strachauer Award, the Mathilda Heck Award, the Twin Cities Musicians Union AFM Award, the Vincent R. Bastien Memorial Award and the Mary Winston Small Memorial Award.

The competition is open to contestants who are performers of instruments that have permanent chairs in the Minnesota Orchestra and are legal residents or students in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Manitobe or Ontario. Contestants must not have reached their twenty-sixth birthday as of January 25, 2004.

To request a copy of the repertoire requirements or an application packet, contact WAMSO Young Artist Competition, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55403-2477; [phone], fax: [phone]; [e-mail]; www.wamso.org.

Application forms for U.S. entrants, together with a $65 nonrefundable fee, must be postmarked before September 29, 2003. The international deadline is September 22, 2003. Forms can be downloaded from. the WAMSO website.