ELIGIBILITY: The competition is open to Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents of all gender identities who call British Columbia their home. It is open to orchestral instrumentalists from ages 18 to 30.

New Competition Format:
Preliminary Round: video submission
Final Round: Live performance of top three contestants

preliminary round APPLICATION DEADLINE: may 10, 2026 at 11:59 pt

FINAL ROUND: mid-late june, 2026 in vancouver

APPLICATION FEE: NONE

The category of All Other Instruments includes wind, brass, string, and percussion instruments of any global origin, both acoustic and electric/amplified, but excludes voice (next eligibility: 2027) and piano/keyboards (next eligibility: 2028).

The preliminary round is adjudicated based on the merit of application materials (application profile, supporting documents, video submissions, etc.) outlined in the application guidelines.

The final round is adjudicated based on the live performances of 30 minute programs by three finalists chosen from the preliminary round and is open to the public.

PRELIMINARY ROUND AWARD:

$500 Tony Roper Diversity in Programming Award

FINAL ROUND AWARDS:

$4,000 first prize

$3,000 second prize

$2,000 third prize

ALL finalists also earn the opportunity to perform a 45-50 minute recital program on an upcoming VWMS season.

PLEASE REVIEW THE 2026 VWMS SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION APPLICATION GUIDELINES WITH CARE AND ENSURE ALL SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS/LINKS ARE CORRECTLY UPLOADED TO THE APPLICATION FORM BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION.