WARSAW — Registration is now open for the ninth annual Statewide Young Artist Competition to be held Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, in Warsaw Community High School’s Performing Arts Center.

The competition consists of a junior division (grades five to eight) and a senior division (grades nine to 12) for students who play orchestral strings (including harp and classical guitar), brass, woodwinds, percussion and piano. Students must meet specific eligibility requirements to participate. The registration deadline for competing musicians is Friday, Dec. 1. The competition will consist of a morning and an afternoon round, and is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts’ Symphony of the Lakes, the competition was founded by the late Thomas Stirling, who was music director for the symphony and the theater. Both divisions will compete for the Thomas N. Stirling Memorial Scholarships, which will be awarded to the top three musicians in each division. Both first-place winners will also be given the opportunity to perform with the Symphony of the Lakes in a future concert.

“Our organization recognizes that Indiana is blessed with so many wonderful young musicians around the state,” said Jason Luke Thompson, conductor of the Wagon Wheel Symphony of the Lakes. “We want to offer students a unique opportunity to compete, to earn scholarships, and also have an opportunity to perform with the Symphony of the Lakes in the future. Our musicians come from all over Indiana, so it’s important to us that we’ve expanded this opportunity for students beyond northern Indiana.”

Complete registration information is available on the Wagon Wheel Center’s website at https://wagonwheelcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2024-Symphony-of-the-Lakes-Young-Artist- Competition-Packet.pdf or call the center office at (574) 267-8041.