Rising Talents Festival

introduction

auditions

recitals

judges

introduction

General information

Welcome to the International Rising Talents Festival 2025-26!

The festival audition will be led by a panel of experienced judges. After the audition, each performer will receive signed evaluations and detailed commentary. Depending on the outcome of the audition, students will be invited to participate in either the Grand Prix, Grand Prize, Gold, or Silver level prize of the Winner Circle Concert Series. The judge's bios will be posted on our website after the audition.

All winners will have a choice to perform in one of the concert venues listed below, according to the outcome of the audition, or submit their video files for the Virtual Recital. The virtual recital video will be published on the Music-Fest YouTube channel.

We are looking forward to an exciting and inspiring season!

Eligibility and repertoire

The Festival is open to instrumentalists, vocalists, and ensembles. We accept performers ages five to twenty-five years old.

Memorization is required for the solo performers.

Participants performing with a piano accompaniment or as part of an ensemble are not required to memorize the music piece.

Instrumentalists and vocalists have to perform with piano accompaniment at the audition and at the concert if the music piece has an accompaniment.

Music-Fest may provide an accompanist for a fee. Please inquire via email.

Participants must perform one piece or one song from the standard repertoire.

We would like to encourage teachers and students to choose an individual piece rather than a Sonata or Sonatina movements. In case of Sonatas / Sonatinas, a single movement is considered one piece.

As a common rule, a completed part of any cyclic music form is regarded as a single entry. No simplified arrangements.

We encourage students to apply for a Video Audition as the live audition time slots are limited. If you want to register for the Live Audition, please do not wait for the application deadline and register early as the registration for the live audition will be closed once the capacity is reached.

For the Video Audition, the music score and a video link should be provided to the judge.

Please submit a video link and a copy of the sheet music after registration by logging into your account in the upper part of the webpage. We accept YouTube links only. The copies of the music should be in PDF format only.

For the Live audition, students should present their sheet music to the judge. The copies will be accepted only if the music is in the public domain. The judges will return the music to the students right after their audition.

Dress Code

Performers should wear a suit, a dress, a skirt or dress pants with a shirt or a blouse. Dress shoes only. Ties are optional. No jeans or sneakers.

Awards

At the concert, each performer will be awarded a Trophy and a Certificate that reflects the performer's level of achievement at the audition. The teachers will receive digital Certificates of recognition.

Awards will be mailed only to participants who chose to perform at the Virtual Recital. Only the United States domestic shipping cost is included in the Virtual Recital participation fee. International participants should contact us via email info@music-fest.com regarding shipping and handling costs.

Photo orders

Use of photography, sound or video devices is prohibited in all the venues. Music-Fest will provide an archival photographer for the recitals for whom we secured permission from the administrations. If you would like to have concert photos, please order them at the time of the concert registration.

audition
information

Instrumentalists only. Princeton, NJ

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton

50 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton, NJ, 08540

SEE MAP

Information about the live audition for pianists is provided below.

Video audition

Simple phone recordings proved to be of decent quality, no special equipment is needed. We accept YouTube videos only. Videos have to be in horizontal format, YouTube shorts will not be accepted.

Pianists only. Pine Brook, NJ

Sunday, February 1, 2026

Lindeblad School of Music

101 US-46, Pine Brook, NJ, 07058

SEE MAP

We can accept a limited number of students for the Live Audition. Please register early and do not wait for an application deadline, as we will close the registration for live auditions once the capacity is reached. At that point, we will accept registrations for the Video Audition only.

Winners’ recitals

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall

Grand Prix Winners are invited to perform at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall.

The recitals will be on the following dates:

Saturday, March 14 at 12:00 pm
Saturday, March 14 at 5:30 pm
Saturday, March 21 at 12:00 pm
Saturday, March 21 at 5:30 pm

Grand Prix winners will be able to register for any concert at the Grand Prix, Grand, Gold, and Silver Prize levels, depending on the family's schedule preference.

The awarded certificate will indicate the Grand Prix level and the venue where the student performs.

Registration for each concert will close once capacity is reached.

The Greenfield Hall at Manhattan School of Music

Grand Prix and Grand Prize Winners are invited to perform at the Greenfield Hall at Manhattan School of Music.

Address - 130 Claremont Ave, New York, NY 10027

Date - May 30, 2026

Time - The first concert is planned to start at 11:00 AM. Additional concert times will be announced once participation numbers are confirmed.

For registration purposes, please select 11:00 AM. The final concert schedule will be created and shared after the registration deadline.

Per our requirements, performers should present their audition piece at the Winners Concert. Since the Grand Prize Winners concert is on May 30, students may choose to perform a different piece. In this case, please submit a video of the new piece for approval by May 1.
If no new video is received by the deadline, the original audition piece should be performed.

The National Opera America Center

Grand Prix, Grand, Gold, and Silver Prize Winners are invited to perform at the National Opera America Center

Address - 330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001

Date - Sunday, March 22, 2026

Time - 12:00 pm

Virtual Recital

The Virtual Recital video will be posted on the Music-Fest YouTube channel at the end of our 2025-26 season. Trophies and certificates will also be mailed to all participants at that time.