String Concerto Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

One player performs a concerto, or a movement of one, on a string instrument in an open solo class of up to twenty minutes, marked out of 100 by an adjudicator.

String Concerto is the demanding end of the string classes: a single player takes on a work written to be played with an orchestra, usually a complete concerto or one or more of its movements. Because the soloist carries the whole piece, the class is aimed at advanced players who have already moved beyond a standard solo class and want to be heard in a larger, more sustained work.

On the one eTalenter template that carries it, a British children and young people’s music, speech and drama eisteddfod, the class sits in the Open Solo group with a twenty-minute limit. It is an individual item open to boys and girls together, with no language attached. Any bowed string instrument can reasonably be offered, since the class title does not name one, so a violinist, violist or cellist can each bring the concerto of their choice.

A round is calm and formal. The entrant is called, tunes, and plays with a piano accompanist standing in for the orchestra. The limit covers the whole performance, so a soloist choosing a long movement must plan cuts or a shorter work rather than risk running over. The adjudicator listens for sustained control across a long span, writes a comment and awards a mark out of 100.

Organisers keep a concerto class because it gives the most committed players a platform that a short solo class cannot, and it rewards stamina and musical judgement as well as technique. It pairs naturally with the ordinary string solo class for younger players and with a repertoire class where one is run.

Where String Concerto is run

String Concerto appears on a single eTalenter template: a British eisteddfod for children and young people covering music, speech and drama, where it runs as an open class. Concerto classes for strings, woodwind and brass exist at many music festivals, but this page records only that one template.

• United Kingdom

Key facts

• Individual entry, open to boys and girls together; no language is set
• Placed in the Open Solo group, so it is not divided by age band on this template
• Time limit of 20 minutes, the longest of the instrumental solo classes on the same template
• Any bowed string instrument can be offered; the class title does not name one
• Marked out of 100; the source prints no judging criteria for it, so none are assumed here
• Separate from String Solo and String Repertoire, and from the Woodwind and Brass concerto classes on the same template

On eTalenter, String Concerto is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, String Concerto is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 20 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in String Concerto

What a String Concerto panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Sustained intonation: staying in tune through long passages, high positions and fast runs matters more over twenty minutes than in a short piece
• Tone and bow control: a rich, even sound that carries over the piano and holds its quality from the first phrase to the last
• Technical command of the concerto: fast passagework, double stops and shifts that sound secure rather than just survived
• Musical structure: a clear sense of how the movement is built, with contrast between the lyrical and the brilliant sections
• Partnership with the accompanist: matching tempo, balance and entries so the piano part supports the soloist like an orchestra would
• Time discipline and presence: finishing inside twenty minutes, with a composed entrance, a clean start and a tidy exit

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for String Concerto under Scoring Setup, or start from the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for String Concerto

How entrants and their teachers usually get String Concerto right on the day:

• Pick a movement or work that fits inside twenty minutes with the tuning and walk-on included, and agree any cuts with your teacher well in advance
• Start with the piano part early: book rehearsals with the accompanist as soon as the notes are secure, not just in the final week
• Practise the whole piece in one go at least twice before the day, building the stamina that a long movement needs
• Isolate the hardest shifts and passagework, practise them slowly with a tuner or drone, then restore the tempo gradually
• Perform it for a listener standing up, in concert clothes if possible, so the first full run-through is not on the day
• Bring spare strings, rosin, a mute if the score asks for one, and a clear copy of the piano part for the accompanist

Frequently asked questions

Is String Concerto judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Do I have to play a whole concerto?

The class title only says concerto and the limit is twenty minutes, so a complete work or a single movement can be offered as long as it fits the time. Check your organiser’s own rules for any requirement on the number of movements.

How long is the String Concerto class?

The limit on this template is 20 minutes, and it covers the full performance.

Is it different from String Solo?

Yes. String Solo is a general class with shorter tiered time limits, while String Concerto is an open class for a concerto-length work with a 20-minute limit.

Is it judged individually or as a team?

It is an individual item, one soloist per entry with a piano accompanist, open to boys and girls together and marked out of 100.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.