WINONA LAKE — The Symphony of the Lakes, the professional orchestra branch of Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts, announced its third annual Young Artist Competition. The competition will take place on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, at the Warsaw Performing Arts Center for students currently in grades 9-12 who play Strings (including guitar and harp), Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, and Piano. Students must meet specific eligibility requirements to participate.

According to Conductor Tom Stirling, “The northern Indiana community is blessed with so many wonderful young musicians that we want to offer students an intriguing event to compete, and also have the opportunity to perform with The Symphony of the Lakes on our concert scheduled on April 29, 2017. Our musicians come from all over northern Indiana, so it’s important to us that we give students in our region this special opportunity.”

In order to participate, students must be residents in one of the following counties: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Marshall, Miami, Noble, St. Joseph, Steuben, Wabash, Wells, or Whitley. Entrants must also participate in musical activities in school OR have a private instructor who lives or works in the counties listed. Other rules for the competition can be found in the rest of the information and application that is included with this letter. Feel free to copy the letter and application as many times for your students. This letter and application will also be available to download online.

According to Stirling, the Symphony of the Lakes’ mission is to engage the Northern Indiana community and enrich its quality of life through live musical performances and educational performances. “Giving students an opportunity like this will hopefully allow your young and gifted students the chance to shine in a way they perhaps haven’t had the opportunity to do so,” Stirling said.

The application deadline is Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. Those interested in more details should inquire to [email protected].