Application Procedure

Elite International Music Competition will take place in two separate categories in the 2024-2025 season: Music Performance and Music Composition.

Applications for the live and video auditions must be submitted by November 15, 2024. In-person auditions are highly encouraged for the contestants in the Music Performance category. The applicants in the Music Composition category will only be evaluated based on their audition video recordings available on YouTube. Applicants in the Music Performance category who are unable to attend a live audition have the option to audition via video and may send a YouTube link to their audition video recording to Elite Music Competition Corp. through our website. All applicants who have chosen to be audited through audition video recordings must ensure their YouTube video is set to public or unlisted and the performer's full name and title of the musical piece are stated in the title. The video should be recorded in the spirit of a live audition or recital performance and the full image of the performer is shown in the video. Edited video recordings (video shots that have been manipulated and rearranged in order to create a new work) are not accepted.

Your application for the audition, either online or in-person, must be accompanied by a non-refundable audition fee according to the fee schedule below:

• Solo Performances: $94
• Duet Performances: $140
• Trio Performances: $185
• Ensemble of four or more members: $55 per each performer

In order to apply for participation in the audition for the Winners Recitals, please fill out the Application Form and pay the audition fee by the application deadline.

The audition fee can be paid via Zelle® (for individuals with a U.S.-based bank account only) or PayPal, or by a personal check, or certified check, or money order. In order to send your payment via Zelle® it is critical that our email address info@elitemusiccompetition.org is entered correctly as the recipient. If there is a typo, Elite Music Competition Corp. will not receive your payment. Please ensure that the performer’s name is entered in the Memo Field. Payment will not be processed without the performer’s name. We recommend confirming with your bank or credit union Zelle® availability and that there are no additional fees or transaction limits.

After paying the recital fee via Zelle® or PayPal, a copy of the payment receipt received from Zelle® or PayPal with the performer's first and last names added to the subject line must be forwarded to Elite Music Competition Corp. at our email address: info@elitemusiccompetition.org. If we have not received the copy of the payment confirmation with the performer's first and last names in the subject line by the audition application deadline we may assume that the payment has not been made and remove the application entry from our system.

If you plan on paying the audition fee by a personal check, or certified check or money order, complete the Audition Application Form by following the above link, print the confirmation page that is displayed after the Application Form has been submitted, and mail a copy of the confirmation page along with your personal check, or certified check, or money order in the amount shown above to Elite Music Competition Corp. at the below address:

Elite Music Competition Corp.
4 Lyons Place
East Hanover, New Jersey 07936-3057

Write the performer's first and last names in the memo section. Do not use certified mail. Your personal check, or certified check, or money order must be in U.S. dollars, drawn on a U.S. bank, and made payable to Elite Music Competition Corp.

After we received the application information along with the payment from the applicants, an audition schedule with specific details and instructions, including the audition center location and audition time, will be emailed out to all the applicants at the email address provided by them in their application forms, no later than 5 days prior to the scheduled in-person audition. A blank evaluation form will be attached to the email. Please fill out the section of the evaluation form named to be filled out by the applicant with some general information, such as, applicant's full name, age, and the piece to be performed and bring it with you along with the original music score to the audition.

Applicants who have successfully passed the audition participate in the Winners Recitals. The Winners Recitals of the first and second place winners will take place at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as well as may take place at Marc A. Scorca Hall at National OPERA America, Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, and live online via Zoom from January through May 2025.

The recital venue, date, and time may also be offered to the qualified winners based upon the competition results.

The Winners Recitals of the third place winners will be held live online via Zoom.

In the United States and Canada auditions will be held at the following dates and locations:

For the audition center locations and dates in other countries please contact the Regional Director in your respective area.

Music Performance Category Repertoire: Applicants in this category must perform one composition from the Baroque, or Classical, or Romantic, or Contemporary periods from standard repertoire under 6 minutes. One movement of Sonatina, or Sonata, or Concerto is considered as one piece. Arrangements, simplified or modified editions, popular music, or non-classical music are not accepted. Repeats are not allowed. All repertoire must be performed from memory and the participants may not change the chosen repertoire once the application has been submitted.

The judges reserve the right to stop a performance at their sole discretion at any time during the performance.

Music Composition Category: Composer's own unpublished original compositions written for solo, duet, trio, or quartet are acceptable/eligible. Acoustic works that utilize electronic or computer accompaniment are not acceptable/eligible. Legible full score of the composed musical piece in PDF format must be emailed to Elite Music Competition Corp. within 2 calendar days after the audition application has been submitted. The score must have clear markings of title, composer’s name, tempo, dynamics, and expressions. If music is not notated it is considered to be an improvisation, not composition. Either hand-written scores or those notated in a music software program, such as Finale, Sibelius, MusicNote, etc. are acceptable. Each composition is considered as a separate entry. The repertoire for both the audition and recital must be performed from memory by the applicant. The applicant's and composer's full names must match in the application for this category.

The score given by the judges is final and will become available to either the contestants or to their respective teachers within 10 days after the audition date.

The competition in the Music Performance category is divided into the following age categories:

• Elementary: 6-8 years old
• Intermediate: 9-12 years old
• Senior: 13 years and older

Participants must be of qualifying age as of November 15, 2024 for the upcoming competition.

Multiple winners will be chosen in each age category.

*Application fee and some audition terms may vary outside of the U.S