Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival 2025 | Page 27

B Y R O N B E R L I N E Youth Instrument CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION

AND THE 2024 WINNERS ARE...

FIDDLE
1st Place McKenna Peterson 2nd Place Sidney Cantrell 3rd Place Joshua Wills
MANDOLIN
1st Place Eli Murphy 2nd Place Logan Herra
3rd Place Ellie McMannis
GUITAR
1st Place Sam Scoonover 2nd Place Andrew Jones 3rd Place Eli Murphy

Y oung musicians wanting to share their skills are encouraged to compete in the festival’ s youth instrument championships. Instrument categories most traditional to bluegrass music will be featured. They include bass, fiddle, mandolin, flat pick guitar and banjo.

“ Our goal for the participating youth is to come away with a sense of accomplishment and pride,” Youth Competition Chairperson Clay Williams said.
Youngsters 18 years and younger are allotted six minutes to showcase their musical abilities. Each contestant presents three tunes acoustically into a microphone on stage. They are not to speak or sing.
The judges, who are professional musicians award points for execution,
PHOTO BY JILL HECK
arrangement, expression and overall performance. Judges are also looking for talent whose style is in keeping with the bluegrass flavor of the festival. First place winners in each category receive $ 150, second place $ 100 and third place $ 50. A total of $ 1800 in prize money is available.
New registration hours for both youth contests are in place this year. Sign-ups are between 8:00 a. m. and 9:00 a. m. on the Saturday of the festival in the Youth Tent. The instrument championships begin at 9:00 a. m. and the band competition follows at 11:00 a. m. The youth instrument championships are named in honor of the late Byron Berline, three-time national fiddle champion and a founder of the festival. Further youth contest details can be found at OIBF. com under Youth Tent.
IBF
1st PLACE WINNERS LEFT TO RIGHT:
1st Place GUITAR: SAM SCHOONOVER
1st Place FIDDLE: McKENNA PETERSEN
1st Place MANDOLIN: ELI MURPHY
OKLAHOMA’ S INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL 2025 / 27