Dreams become reality for winners of the Holland-America Music Society (HAMS) Competition, because in this uncommon string competition, the first prize award is the full-time use of a fine contemporary instrument. This year the HAMS 2005 Competition, which is co-sponsored by DePaul University’s School of Music, will offer this enviable prize in the cello category. The final round in the rigorous process of choosing a winner will take place Oct. 2 at 3 p.m. in the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave., on the university’s Lincoln Park Campus in Chicago. The public is invited to attend and there is a no admission charge. Additional support for this project has been generously provided by the Negaunee Foundation and the Netherlands American Community Trust.

The HAMS Competition, now in its fifth year, has continued to evolve, broadening its scope to include three string categories—cello, viola and violin. This year, the cello category will be judged. Gifted young musicians from the United States and abroad vie for the opportunity to participate in this audition process. Only six will be invited to participate in the semi-final round. Each semi-finalist will be asked to perform a Bach suite and a Beethoven sonata, as well as a concerto of their choice. Three of the semi-finalists will reach the final round. Participants in recent years have included Teng Li (2002), now principal viola of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Kenneth Olsen (2002), recently appointed assistant principal cello of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Jury members for the 2005 Competition include Shmuel Ashkenasi, first violinist of the Vermeer Quartet, Laurence Lesser, faculty member at the New England Conservatory, and DePaul music faculty member Katinka Kleijn, member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s cello section and founder of the Holland-America Music Society.

The winner of the HAMS Competition will be given a cello made by the internationally renowned Dutch string maker Koen J.H. Padding to use full-time over the next 12 months. This instrument is one of three that have been purchased by the Holland-America Music Society since the inception of this competition in 1999. Additionally, the winner will be awarded the use of a new bow by Keith Sleeman of Amsterdam.

Besides an instrument and cash stipend, the winner will be presented in several venues in and around Chicago in the coming months. These engagements include recitals on the popular Dame Myra Hess Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center and WFMT-FM’s “Live from Studio One” radio series. The winning young artist also will have an opportunity to record a compact disc on the Holland-America Music Society label. To date four recordings by previous winners have been released.

In an unusual twist on traditional competition awards, the winner receives two traveling trophies. Both are artworks created especially for HAMS. One is a sculpture of the winner’s string instrument by German artist Herbert Willems; the other, a work on wood by Teun Hocks of The Netherlands. Kleijn, whose vision has guided this ambitious project from its beginning, strongly believes that the artwork is “an enhancement to the musician’s creative environment, which, hopefully, will provide inspiration throughout an exciting year of concert performances, recordings and work with a great instrument.”

Media Contact: Fran Huscher: 847/433-3292, PShuscher@aol.com