The Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation will host its annual awards competition this year with COVID-19 protocols in place, giving local musicians the opportunity to showcase their talents while staying safe.
Since the foundation’s creation in 1982, the organization has hosted an annual competition to provide financial awards to talented vocalists and musicians in Santa Barbara County. During this year’s competition, the foundation will provide $25,000 in awards to finalists of the selective competition.
During a typical year, musicians would participate in a rigorous in-person audition process followed by a live performance, but due to COVID-19, this year’s audition process will be held online.
Vocalists and musicians can upload a video of their performance by April 2. Judges will virtually adjudicate each performance to determine this year’s finalists. Selected finalists will then be invited to perform live for a judges-only audience April 25 at Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito.
In compliance with COVID-19 guidelines, the theater will be sanitized and aired out between each performance, social distancing will be enforced at all times and masks will be worn when possible.
To enter the 2021 competition, musicians must live in Santa Barbara County or study with a Santa Barbara County teacher, must be under the age of 30 and must have performed less than five times in past PASF competitions.
Previous first-place winners can’t compete in the same discipline.
The competition is also closed to college-level music faculty.
The registration deadline for the competition is March 5, and musicians will have until April 2 to submit their audition video. Results will be announced via email for participants in mid-April.
To register for this year’s competition, visit pasfsb.org/audition.
— Madison Hirneisen
