Posted May 12, 2015
DAYTON, OH (May 12, 2015) – The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra has issued an official Call for Entries for guitarists who are proficient in playing electric guitar in the rock ’n’ roll genre. As part of the upcoming DPO concert Guitar Heroes, the DPO would like to show off some virtuosic Dayton guitar talent to perform alongside the DPO and guest band, Jeans ‘n Classics. Winners of this guitar concert will be invited to perform on stage at the Schuster Center on Friday, July 10, 2015, for the first concert of the new Dayton Philharmonic Summer in the City Music Festival. Media Sponsor for this concert is 104.7 WTUE ~ Dayton’s Rock Station.
Two winners will be selected by a panel of four judges to take the lead role on a classic rock tune – backed by the full Dayton Philharmonic and Jeans ’n Classics on July 10, 2015 – for an audience of 2,000 music fans. The specific song will be selected by Jeans ’n Classics. One Winner will take a featured role for song on the first half and the other Winner for a song on the second half. Both Winners will trade solos with Jeans ’n Classics guitarists on a jam at the climax of the concert. Each Winner receives a shiny new guitar plus four front-row tickets to Guitar Heroes.
Three runners-up will be invited to join The Fries Band to perform a tune on stage at the Summer in the City Street Party, which takes place on 2nd Street in front of the Schuster Center in downtown Dayton on July 10, 2015 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Each runner-up will receive $200 and two front-row tickets to Guitar Heroes.
ONLINE REGISTRATION – NOW THROUGH JUNE 9 MIDNIGHT
In order to enter, local guitarists are asked to fill out the official entry form located at https://daytonperformingarts.org/daytonguitarheroessearch. All fields must be filled out in order to enter. By submitting this form, entrants agree that any and all information provided may be used for publicity and online voting purposes, that he or she will be available for the dates listed in bold, and that there will be no consideration of any type due to the entrant (other than the possibility of winning the prizes listed above). There is no age restriction, but the contestants must have a permanent residence in Dayton, Ohio area counties (see list on pull down menu on entry page).
The timing of the contest is as follows:
1) FIRST ROUND – A display web page of guitarists entering online will go live starting Monday June 1, 2015. These entrants will be vetted by Dayton Philharmonic staff. There will be a voting feature on the display page, and residents from the Miami Valley are encouraged to vote for their favorite candidates. The Dayton vote tallies will be utilized, in concert with the Judges’ votes, to select a field of Finalists who will be identified and notified on June 11 by email. All other contestants will be notified at that time as well.
IMPORTANT – Entrants may list only one YouTube video and to qualify, it must show the contestant playing the guitar. Of course, Dayton residents and Judges may choose to take into consideration any other videos or sound files current on the web (i.e. other YouTube videos, contestant’s website if one exists, contestant’s Facebook page, etc.) However, the key starting point will be the YouTube video URL submitted by the contestant.
2) SECOND ROUND – Finalists will be invited to play live on June 13, 2015 for our panel of Judges. The competition will start at 7:00 pm and end as late as midnight. This event will be open to the general public. Contestants will be accompanied by a provided rhythm section at a local venue. Judges will attend personally. The final Winners and Runners-up will be selected at this time by the Judges based on solo skills, audience engagement, general demeanor, sensitivity to playing with ensemble, and overall grasp of the rock idiom.
3) FINAL WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP – Public announcement of the Winners and Runners-up will occur on June 20 at 8:00 p.m. at the Evening with Indigo Girls concert with Dayton Philharmonic and announced via WTUE and in the Dayton Daily News on Sunday, June 21. Winners and Runners-up will each receive a pair of tickets to the Indigo Girls concert. A press photo opportunity for Dayton Guitar Heroes will be scheduled at 7:30 before the concert.
4) PERFORMANCE DATE – JULY 10, 2015 – Winners perform at Guitar Heroes concert. Runners-up perform at Summer in the City Street Party.
OFFICIAL JUDGES
Official judges for this contest at the Second Round will be:
* Peter Brennan – arranger, guitarist, Jeans ’n Classics founder http://www.jeansnclassics.com/band/peter-brennan.asp
* Neal Gittleman – artistic director, conductor, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra https://daytonperformingarts.org/conductingstaff
* Jim McCutcheon – teacher, performer, radio host http://jim.mccutcheon.biz/
* Denny Wilson – singer, songwriter, musician, educator http://www.reverbnation.com/dennywilsonmusic
For more information or to enter this Guitar Heroes contest, please visit www.daytonguitarheroes.com. For more information on the upcoming DPO Guitar Heroes concert or DPO’s Summer in the City Music Festival, please visit https://daytonperformingarts.org/1516-philharmonic-summer-in-the-city-series.