Baroque too new for this contest

Early Music America, a national service organization founded in 1985, hopes to redress a balance it feels has tipped too far toward Baroque music by sponsoring a Medieval and Renaissance Performance Competition with a top prize of $5,000 and a concert in Boston.

“We have nothing against Baroque music,” says Early Music America Executive Director Maria Coldwell. “Most of the applicants to our previous competitions have been Baroque music performers.”

But, says Coldwell, “when we began to look at early music degree training programs around the county, we saw that most of them are specializing in training Baroque performers. There seems to be a decline in the number of young artists who are going into medieval and Renaissance music as their specialty. Therefore, we would like to encourage more young people to work in those fields.”

Applicants must be emerging soloists or ensembles using voice and/or period instruments who have not performed together for more than five years and most or all of whom are 35 or younger. Repertory is limited to medieval and Renaissance music, from roughly 800 to 1629, performed in a historically informed style. Deadline for applications is April 20. Information: (206) 720-6270.

-- Chris Pasles