Vernon L. Wiscarson
Young Musicians’ Competition

OSAS sponsors a prestigious instrumental music competition for talented youth in the mid-Willamette Valley. The Vernon L. Wiscarson Young Musicians’ Competition encourages serious young musicians to hone their performance skills by participating in a juried competition. The awards, currently the largest cash prizes for students in Oregon, are funded through an endowment made possible by the family of Vernon L. Wiscarson, a longtime music educator and musician in Salem.

The competition, established in 1980, is held on the campus of Western Oregon University in late winter each year and is free to the public. Adjudicators come from the Oregon Symphony and universities in the area. First place winners receive a cash prize of $500 and may be invited to join the Oregon Symphony solo performances during Salem and Portland Youth Concerts. Second and third place winners receive $300 and $200, respectively. There are also two, $100 Honorable Mentions that may be given at the Adjudicator’s discretion. OSAS encourages talented young musicians to submit an application for the competition.

Download Competition Application (13kb PDF)

Rules for the Wiscarson Young Musicians’ Competition

1. The competition is open to all ages up to, and including, a senior in high school. A student entering college early (i.e., prior to 18 years of age) is not eligible.
2. Students must reside in one of these counties: Marion, Polk, Yamhill, Linn, or Benton.
3. Only soloists are eligible for the competition (no duets, etc.).
4. A competitor is allowed to compete on only one instrument.
5. The competitor must perform any one movement from a standard concerto or other work for solo instrument (including piano) and orchestra. The piece must be memorized. Each soloist needs to provide his/her accompanist. Music scores also need to be provided for each adjudicator to use on the day of the competition.
6. There is a ten-minute maximum on the piece to be performed in competition, with nine minutes being the preferred time.
7. Applications and audition tapes must be submitted by the deadline noted on the application. The competition reserves the right to limit the number of entrants if, at some point, there are too many to be judged in one day.
8. The winner will be offered a coaching session with a member of the Oregon Symphony. There is no guarantee the winner will play with the Oregon Symphony.
9. There will be no tie for First Place. Adjudicators will use discretion about other places.
10. First place winners must wait one year to re-enter the competition if that winner was able to perform with the Oregon Symphony.

History of the Wiscarson Young Musicians’ Competition

Cash awards for the Wiscarson Young Musicians’ Competition are made possible by the generous contributions of the late Edna Wiscarson in honor of her husband, Vernon, who came to Salem as the Instrumental Music Supervisor for Salem Public Schools. He also conducted private music lessons in his home, and in later years he owned a music store in Salem.

“Vernon was a very good musician and was very good with kids,” Edna once said. “Kids liked him. That’s terribly important. He was a very good teacher, and he loved what he was doing.” Vernon was an oboist, but he could teach students to play any instrument.

The Wiscarsons were subscribers and involved with the OSAS from its beginning in 1955. In 1980, two years after Vernon’s death, Edna established the competition in his memory. Their daughter, Sandy, said: “Dad was very supportive of young musical talent and believed it should be fostered. I think that is why a competition that encourages all instrumental music students and gives them an opportunity to perform appealed to my mother.”

Before her death, Edna said that the students in the competition had made her extremely proud: “I think it has been good for their egos,” she said. “It was good for the city to know there were students who were good enough and smart enough to do it.”

Sandy grew up going to the symphony and accompanying her father backstage. She later spent 13 years working in arts administration for symphony orchestras in New Jersey, Buffalo, and Nashville. She returned to Oregon in 1995 and now works at the Graduate School of Education, Portland State University, as development director. She spent six years on the OSAS board, from 1996 - 2002. Sandy remains interested in the competition and helps at the awards ceremony each year.

The Wiscarsons have heard from many of the winners over the years, including Emily Norton, who was a sophomore from Newberg High School in 1996 when she won the competition after having studied the violin for 13 of her 16 years. “I think it’s a wonderful program because it gives high school students like myself an opportunity to perform with a professional orchestra. I hope to go to a good conservatory and become a musician. It also was my goal, but it (the competition) reinforced my goal. It gave me a chance to see that it would be practical for me to do.”