The Young People's Music Program (YPMP) is a self-sustaining activity operating under the umbrella organization known as the Chinese American Cultural Association (CACA). The CACA is a not-for-profit organization registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a Chapter 501-3(C) entity. The YPMP celebrates its twentieth year in 2002. Over the past several years, the participation in its Competition has seen unprecedented growth from less than twenty performers at its inception to over one hundred last year. In part this is a result of the generosity of the Phi Lambda Charitable Trust as well as the Levine Foundation which made the prizes more affordable. But the primary driving force has been the dedication of the YPMP Committee members, all of whom are volunteers. The YPMP Committee is the governing body and consists of two Officers, a Chairman and a Treasurer, and ten Committee Members. The Officers each serve three-year terms. Committee Members may serve indefinitely as there are no term limits. The YPMP’s sole activity is the sponsorship of two musical events per calendar year known as the YPMP Competition and the Honors Recital. Over the years the format has evolved from a Competition in the spring and an Honors’ Recital in the fall to having both events the spring, usually during March and May, respectively. Because of the large number of participants, The YPMP Committee decided two years ago to split the Competition into two events, one for players of string instruments and one for piano. While this approach has resulted in higher operating costs (because of more judges and increases rental days), the end result has been a more satisfactory experience for the participants who now compete against players with the same kind of instruments. All children between the ages of 6 and 18 are welcome without regard to race, creed, sex or national origin. Over the past several years participation has widened to also include children from Long Island, Connecticut and Lehigh Valley, PA, in addition to New Jersey. The winners are selected by Judges (also known as Adjudicators) who are professional musicians from the greater metropolitan area who must also meet two other criteria: first, they must have taught and are teaching children in piano or string instruments; second, none of their students are in the YPMP Competition. The YPMP has been very fortunate over the years in having judges who are chairman or professors of musical departments of University as well winners of international competition such as the International Paganini Violin Competition and the Arthur Rubenstein Piano Competition among others. Winners of the Competitions who participate in the Honors Recital are awarded trophies at the conclusion of the Recital. Three top prizes are also awarded to the three Winners of the Honors’ Recital in each of the two categories, strings and piano. These are in cash and US Savings Bonds of various denominations. |
| Young People's Music Program Chinese American Cultural Association Non-Profit Organization |
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