William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition

13/12/2025

One of our former Byrd Competition contestants, Hannah Brammer will be performing in her hometown, Traverse City, MI on December 20 and 21, 2025 at the TC Symphony Holiday program. She and her husband are regular performers with the Sarasota Opera and the Knoxville Opera.

05/12/2025

The Michigan Federation of Music Clubs (MFMC) is promoting competitions for college music students who attend a Michigan college or university. More information is on the MFMC website.

09/11/2025

To my friends in music and others who are interested:
The application brochure for the March 7, 2026 William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition is now available on the competition website. The 2026 classical music competition is for Winds & Brass instrumentalists aged 32 or younger on the day of the competition. The website address is www.ByrdArtists.com. You can also just google the name of the competition to go to the website. Page 1 can be used as a poster. Page 2 contains the rules and information. Page 3 is the application form. Page 4 has a bio of William C. Byrd and a brief history of the St. Cecilia Society of Flint, MI (competition producer and sponsor). The Byrd Committee must receive applications by the absolute deadline, January 14, 2026.

William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition, is an international music competition sponsored by St. Cecilia Society.

10/09/2025

The preparations for the March 7, 2026 William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition is underway! The competition is for winds/brass. Look for new prizes!

23/07/2025

The next William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition is for Winds/Brass and will take place in Flint, MI on March 7, 2026. We have changed our prizes! Gold-$8,000 and a guest artist performance with the professional Flint Symphony Orchestra, Silver-$4,000, Bronze-$2,500 and two finalists who will receive $1,000 each. The Byrd Competition website will be updated in September 2025. The competition is for winds/brass instrumentalists 32 years of age or younger.

23/07/2025

The 2025 Wm. C. Byrd Competition winner, Elena Ariza, cello, is participating in the Marlboro Festival in Vermont at this time. She will perform the Cello concerto in B minor by Dvorak with the professional Flint Symphony Orchestra on March 21, 2026. Elena and 2015 Byrd winner, Baron Fenwick, piano, perform as a duo in the NYC area.
Our 2024 Byrd winner, Zhengyi Huang, piano, is performing concerts around Europe this summer.

22/05/2025

The winner of the 2024 William C Byrd Young Artist Competition for piano, Zhengyi Huang was in Flint, MI to perform with the Flint Symphony Orchestra last weekend. He conducted a masterclass for three lucky students during his stay. Some photos are attached. The students are 1) Emilee (Impromptus No.4 by F. Schubert), 2) Auden (Piano Sonata No. 16, K 545 by W.A. Mozart), and 3) Marshall (Standchen by R. Schumann). At the end of the class, we were treated to Romance (a love song for Schumann's wife, Clara) by R. Schumann.

06/05/2025

The 2024 winner of the William C Byrd Young Artist Competition,Zhengyi Huang, will be performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Flint Symphony Orchestra at 7:30pm at The Whiting (Auditorium) on Saturday, May 17, 2025. The preliminary judge, Dr. Howard Watkins, described his playing as "fantastic!" Watkins added that the pianists in the 2024 Byrd Competition were the best we've ever had. If you like classical music, and you are in the Flint, MI area, I encourage you to attend. Tickets start at $15 and Genesee County Residents get a 30% discount. There may be a day when you can brag about seeing Huang perform as a rising star.

03/05/2025

Great news! The winner of the 2016 Byrd Competition, Xiao Wang, violin, was awarded 2nd place in the Classic Violin Olympus Competiton held last weekend in Dubai. Twelve superior violinists were selected for the semi-final round during six preliminary competitions held around the world. The Byrd Competition Committee and the St. Cecilia Society of Flint congratulate Xiao. 😀

02/05/2025

Xiao Wang, a former William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition, has been awarded 2nd place in the Classic Violin Olympus Competition which took place in Europe last week! Twelve top violinists from around the world were accepted to compete in the 2025 competition. This is a major honor!

23/04/2025

Photos from the 2025 William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition for Strings are featured below. The competition took place on March 1, 2025, in flint Michigan. The first-place winner was awarded $6,000.00 and the a guest artist performance with the professional Flint Symphony Orchestra next season. The second-place purse was $2,500.00, and the other finalists each received $1000.00.

03/03/2025

The William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition is history now. Seventeen wonderful contestants competed . The winner is Elena Ariza, cello, who is a doctoral student at the Juilliard School.Alice Lee, violin, received second place. There were four other finalists that are not ranked. They are William Suh, cello; Esma Arias-Kim, violin; Isabel Ong, violin; and Ella Wimbiscus, cello. Congratulations to them!