ECB Concerto Competition

2024 EARL C. BENSON CONCERTO COMPETITION

We are so pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 Earl C. Benson Concerto Competition: Christian Garner, a freshman at Minnetonka High School. Garner is an accomplished performer and is in his third year as principal trumpet with the GTCYS Symphony orchestra. Christian will solo with Medalist Concert Band on Sunday, May 19, at 4 PM at the Schneider Theater in the Bloomington Center for the Arts — as part of our "Wild Symphony" concert.

Ticket information is available HERE.

About the Competition

The Medalist Concert Band is pleased to continue its sponsorship of an annual performance competition for high school band students. Named for a long-time music educator and the original conductor of the Medalist Concert Band, the Earl C. Benson Concerto Competition is now in its fourteenth year.

The purposes of the competition are to identify talented wind and percussion musicians and to encourage high school students to pursue further musical study. In doing so, the competition supports one of the key tenets of the Medalist Concert Bandʼs mission statement: to provide young musicians with a model of music as a lifelong hobby.

EARL C. BENSON COMPETITION WINNERS

2010 | Carley Olson, clarinet | Watertown-Mayer HS
2011 | Timothy Morris, euphonium | Hopkins HS
2012 | Hallie Houser, flute | Eastview HS
2013 | Brandon Caplin, percussion | Apple Valley HS
2013 | Kaitlyn Mann, clarinet | Rosemount HS
2014 | Olivia Nichols, alto saxophone | Eastview HS
2015 | Brenna Sherman, flute | Rochester Lourdes HS
2016 | Anders Peterson, clarinet | Northfield HS
2017 | Lauren Swee, trombone | Waconia HS
2018 | Duncan Henry, bassoon | Prior Lake HS
2019 | Adam Pazandak, alto saxophone | Bloomington Jefferson HS
2020 | Joe Mahin, euphonium | Wayzata HS
2022 | Jacob Welch, alto saxophone | Lakeville South HS
2023 | Arlo Hollander, trombone | Robbinsdale Cooper HS

Upcoming Performances

Join our mailing list

Subscribe to our email newsletter, or join our mailing list.