Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition
Beginning in summer 2010, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music will join with the Cleveland Orchestra to offer an important new international competition for young musicians. The Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition, sponsored by Thomas and Evon Cooper, will alternate annually between piano and violin, debuting in summer 2010 for pianists, followed by a 2011 competition for violinists.
Open to musicians between the ages of 13 and 18, the competition will culminate in a final round at Severance Hall, where the top three competitors will perform a full concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra. The Severance round of the competition will be open to the public, giving Ohioans a chance to hear some of the most promising young musicians in the world perform with an internationally renowned orchestra.
Young pianists interested in entering the inaugural 2010 Cooper Competition will first submit recorded auditions. Forty applicants will be chosen to compete in live rounds at the Oberlin Conservatory in late July 2010. The top three competitors will win $10,000, $6,000, and $3,000, respectively, and those in fourth, fifth, and sixth place will be awarded $1,000 each. The top three competitors will also be awarded full four-year scholarships to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, pending admission, valued at more than $100,000 each. In addition to prize money, the first-prize winner will receive concert engagements with orchestras in Beijing and Shanghai, China.
The Cooper Competition evolved from the Oberlin International Piano Competition and Festival, held at the Conservatory each summer for 14 years, from 1995 through 2008. Like its predecessor, the 2010 Cooper Competition will include a concurrent festival on the Oberlin campus, featuring master classes, concerts, and private lessons. The festival is optional for Cooper Competition participants and is also open to non-competitors.
The finals of the inaugural Cooper Competition are scheduled for July 30, 2010, at Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra. Applications, rules, and repertoire information is now available on this site; some judges have been announced. More details will be released soon.
News and Updates
New International Competition Announced by the Conservatory and the Cleveland Orchestra
Beginning in summer 2010, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music will join with the Cleveland Orchestra to offer an important new international competition for young musicians that will feature more than $20,000 in prize money and a performance with the orchestra.
