EASTON – The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra’s annual Elizabeth Loker International Concerto Competition has attracted a record number of entrants from Maryland, Delaware, and 22 states, as well as China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Israel, and Canada. 155 young musician soloists have entered the March 24 Competition, to be held at 3 p.m. at the Todd Performing Arts Center at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, Maryland.

The Competition is one of the most unique competitions in the world for young music students aged 12 to 25. The three competition finalists, picked by a distinguished panel of judges, will compete as soloists in an afternoon concert before a large audience, performing their favorite concerto accompanied by the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.

Almost all other major competitions worldwide for young solo musicians are performed only with a piano or no accompaniment. This unique opportunity to perform with a leading professional symphony orchestra has attracted record entries globally.

The 26-year-old Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, one of the best regional symphony orchestras in the country, is conducted by Michael Repper, the 2023 Grammy-winning symphonic orchestra conductor for his recording with the New York Youth Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Repper is one of the most sought-after young conductors worldwide, with a reputation for engaging and exciting audiences of all ages and spectrums and for promoting new and diverse musical talents.

The three finalists will compete for $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000 awards, as well as a $500 Audience Choice Award. The 155 competitors play a wide range of instruments, ranging from the expected stringed instruments and piano to the rarer harp, woodwind, tuba, trombone, and percussion instruments. They have selected over 150 concertos for the Competition.

They will be judged by a panel consisting of Edward Polochick, Music Director of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra (Nebraska); James Kelly, Executive Director of the National Philharmonic Orchestra (Washington, D.C.); and Sachi Marasugi, Concertmaster of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra (Maryland) and a member of the Violin Faculty of Salisbury University.