Future Stars Scholarship Competition

The Foothills Philharmonic Orchestra is proud to announce the creation of the Future Stars Scholarship Competition, a solo competition that will award the winner a $1,000 prize to be used for college and the opportunity to perform the work with the orchestra on a future concert. This competition has been in the works for almost a decade, and it is because of Foothills Philharmonic Artistic Director Kory Vrieze that it is now a reality.

“For many years, the Foothills Philharmonic has been providing audiences with great music performed by talented local musicians,” Vrieze said. “Community support has been so strong that we are ready to begin a new phase in our history. In the upcoming months, you will see several new projects added to our already active roster. We are always moving with our mission: Educate, Enrich, Entertain.”

Based on that support, the orchestra’s leadership determined the time had come to implement a program Vrieze proposed in 2011 when he auditioned for the role of artistic director. The Foothills Philharmonic’s Future Stars Scholarship Competition is designed to provide a student musician the unique opportunity to perform as a soloist with a symphony orchestra.

It is open to rising high school juniors and seniors who are string, woodwind, brass or percussion players or pianists The winners of the competition receive a $1000 scholarship and will perform as the featured soloist on the final Masterworks concert in the 2019/2020 season.

More information about the rules of the competition and the link to apply can be found here. Applications may be mailed or delivered to Foothills Philharmonic’s address; instructions can be found on the website. For specific questions pertaining to the competition, email Mastro Vrieze at artistic.director@foothillsphil.org.

About the Foothills Philharmonic

Foothills Philharmonic is a community orchestra that serves the upstate region of South Carolina. It rehearses once a week and performs seven concerts a year in the beautiful Riverside Baptist Church. Performing in Greenville since 2000, Foothills Philharmonic is committed to providing high-quality, classical music performances to the Upstate community free of charge. The orchestra is an all-volunteer orchestra made up of accomplished non-professional musicians from the Upstate region of South Carolina. Orchestra membership includes individuals from many walks of life including part-time musicians, teachers, lawyers, business professionals, and homemakers. Kory Vrieze is the Orchestra’s artistic director and conductor. Membership in the Foothills Philharmonic is open to amateur and professional musicians. Training in youth orchestra, college orchestra, or professional orchestra, in the Greenville Concert Band or an equivalent band is suggested as necessary experience.

For more information about joining the orchestra, interested parties should contact our personnel manager at foothillspersonnel@foothillsphil.org.