New England Banjo Championship
Saturday, July 24, 2010

2010 New England Banjo Championship Winners

1st place: Gabe Hirshfeld
2nd place: Cody McGuire
3rd place: Jack Pierce
 
Check out Gabe at http://www.facebook.com/ghirshfeld

 

2009 New England Banjo Championship Winners

1st place: Michelle Channing, North Andover, Massachusetts (left), 2nd place: Bob Hamilton, Portland, Maine (center), 3rd place: Glen Nelson(right)
 
 

Banjo Championship Prizes

Ome Sweetgrass
Deering Boston
Deering Goodtime

Banjo Rules

  1. No Vocals.
  2. Contestants will play only unamplified instruments.
  3. Contestants may use only one instrument for the competition. The banjo must have 5 strings.
  4. Contestants may play original, traditional or contemporary selections. Any contestant may be disqualified if the performance is not in keeping with the spirit of the competition.
  5. Contestants will receive extra consideration for demonstrating proficiency in more than one style.
  6. Contestants may have one accompanying or rhythm instrument if they choose.
  7. Special tunings will be allowed.
  8. Contestants must not exceed the total allotted time limit for their performance. This time is seven minutes and includes the changing of tunings.

**Contest winners are not allowed to enter the competition for 5 years after the year in which they have won. Second and third place finishers may compete as often as they like.

Contestants will be judged according to the following:

Arrangement and Repertiore 40 Pts

Technique, Tuning, Execution and Timing 40 Pts

Overall Impression and Artistic Quality 10 Pts

Versatility 10 Pts

 

  1. Registration for the competition ends thirty minutes before the beginning. Contestants must be present no less than 30 minutes before the beginning of the contest to be eligible.
  2. There will be a limit of 25 contestants.
  3. The order of contestants will be decided by a lottery before the contest.
  4. No less than three judges will decide the winner and their names will be made public.
  5. All contestants must have a valid ticket to Ossipee Valley Music Festival.

 

Please print out a copy of this form (click here) and send to:

Ossipee Valley Bluegrass Association
PO BOX 593
Cornish, ME 04020

This application must be accompanied by a check made out to OVBA for the appropriate festival entrance fee and a SASE please.

Weekend Advance Tickets
3-Day Weekend Ticket: Fri Sat Sun....$65  Purchase online or send SASE before June 29, 2010.
4-Day Weekend Ticket: Thur Fri Sat Sun....$75  Purchase online or send SASE before June 29, 2010.

Weekend and Daily Tickets
3-Day Weekend Ticket: Fri Sat Sun....$75 at the gate.
4-Day Weekend Ticket: Thur Fri Sat Sun....$85 at the gate.
Thursday all day...$10
Friday or Sunday all day...$25
Saturday all day...$35
Children 17 and under free with adult!

 

Each contest limited to 25 contestants.

Prizes provided by:
Deering Banjo - Bourgeois Guitar - Collings Guitars
Conley Guitars - Ome Banjos