FSMTA Senior and Collegiate Solo Strings Competition

The first place winner receives a cash award from the Florida State Music Teachers Foundation.

Eligibility:
  • Pre-College level:  Student must be a Florida resident and currently studying with a guitar teacher.
  • College level:  Any student registered in guitar study at a private or public university in the State of Florida. (Note: ages 18-26, with contestant’s age to be determined as of June 1, 2020. Because the competition usually takes place in May or June, the student must have been registered in the semester prior to the competition.)
Application fee:
  • All students must pay an application fee to enter competitive events. The application fee is $40 and should be paid by using the online PayPal button on the FSMTA Competitive Events page. Deadline for payment of Competition Fees is May 1st.
Teacher requirements:
  • Teachers who are members of FSMTA pay no fee for their students to enter the competition. Non-member teachers are required to pay an $80 non-member teacher fee. FSMTA teachers who renewed their membership after October 1 will also be required to pay an $80 fee. This fee must be paid at the time of the application and should be paid by using the online PayPal button on the FSMTA Competitive Events page. Deadline for payment of Competition Fees is May 1st. This is a separate fee from the student application fee!​
Application procedures:
  • Send a completed electronic application to FSMTAcompetitions@gmail.com and pay competition fees by May 1st 
  • When both submissions are received, a confirmation email will be sent to you with instructions for uploading your video
  • Upload your video to be available for viewing no later than May 5th
Video Requirements:
  • All works must be recorded in one unedited take, the camera angle must be fixed (no multiple angles).
  • The applicant’s hands and face must be clearly visible. The video may not contain any clues as to identity of the performer. It may contain date of recording (but not place) and titles of works.
  • The recording must be recent, made no earlier than October 1, 2019.
  • Recordings from public performances are allowed.
  • Video formats admitted may be only the following: .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, MPG, .MP4.
  • An audio of high fidelity is strongly recommended. You may record audio from a sound recording device (such as a flash recorder) or use a higher-grade camera with external microphones and dedicated sound capturing capability. However, cell phones and consumer-grade cameras often compress the sound (removing the natural ambiance and compressing dynamic sound levels), yielding poor audio quality.
Repertoire Requirements: 
  • Pre-college: Contestants must perform two or more memorized solo pieces or movements with a total length of 10 to 15 minutes.
  • College: Contestants must perform two or more memorized solo pieces or movements with a total length of 15 to 20 minutes.
​
No concerto movements will be accepted. If any of the works are unpublished, the Competitor must supply a copy of the music.
​Other rules for the Pre-College and Collegiate Guitar Competition:
  • ​All videos are randomly numbered and made anonymous to the judges. All decisions of the judges are final and will not be subject to further review. Judges have the right to declare no winner.
 
  • Incomplete applications or video submissions that are not in accordance with the rules may result in the participant’s disqualification without refund.
 
  • The winners shall submit a short, 250 words or less, biography with a digital photo as an attachment via email to FSMTAcompetitions@gmail.com one week after winning.

Any questions should be emailed to  FSMTAcompetitions@gmail.com prior to submitting an application.

Important:     Deadline for submission of application material is May 1st.
                        Deadline for uploading video is May 5th