ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan’s Hill Auditorium will host the 3rd Annual Sphinx Competition Finals Concert, showcasing the top young Black and Latino string players in the country. Admission is free to the 4 p.m. concert March 5, which will be taped for broadcast on NPR and PBS stations.

Competitors will vie for prize money totaling $80,000, full scholarships to prestigious music camps and academies across the country, and opportunities to appear as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony and the Ann Arbor Symphony.

The Finals Concert will feature three finalists selected from the semifinal round of judging March 4-5. Finalists will perform with an all African-American orchestra comprised of players assembled from professional symphony orchestras around the country. Michael Morgan of the Oakland East Bay Symphony will conduct. The concert will feature works by minority composers in addition to other repertoire performed by the finalists with the orchestra.

Judges for the Finals Concert include Sanford Allen of Rutgers University and the New York Philharmonic; Ronald Crutcher, past president of Chamber Music America; Jesus Morales, concertmaster with the Puerto Rico symphony; Juan Ramirez of the Atlanta Symphony; and Stephen Shipps, a faculty member at U-M’s School of Music.

The Sphinx Competition is produced by the non-profit Concert Competitions and Musical Development, Inc., to promote the development of young African-American and Latino string players. The competition is open to African Americans and Latinos under the age of 26, giving these young musicians the opportunity to develop their existing talent, gain firsthand audition and competition experience, receive recognition, and be exposed to a variety of highly-experienced music professionals.

The competition is endorsed by U-M’s School of Music, the Texaco Foundation and renowned musicians including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Andre Previn and Nigel Kennedy.

Sphinx CompetitionNational Symphony OrchestraMichael MorganSanford AllenSchool of Music