The Saybrook College Orchestra Concerto Competition was launched in Fall 2010 to provide performance opportunities to musicians across Yale College. The Competition furthers our mission of promoting classical music in the Yale community by highlighting extraordinary talents of undergraduate musicians and introducing them to new audiences. With this initiative, SYO became the first (and remains the only) student-run ensemble with an open and competitive process to offer soloists the opportunity to perform with full orchestra.
The next round of the Competition will be held during the 2017-18 academic year. If you are interested in participating in the Competition, please continue to check this page for updates and details. You can also contact the orchestra at saybrookorchestra@gmail.com.
The Competition is open to any musician in Yale College (undergraduates only) from violinists to vocalists. Please note that a Competition participant should plan to perform only a single movement of the chosen concerto.
Past winners of the SYO Concerto Competition are listed below:
| Season | Winner | Instrument | Piece |
| 2016-17 | Henry Shapard, BK '20 | Cello | Haydn - Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major |
| 2015-16 | Benji Fleischacker, ES '17 | Cello | Dvorak - Cello Concerto |
| 2014-15 | Abigail Elder, CC '17 | Viola | Stamitz - Viola Concerto |
| 2013-14 | James Cheng, SY '14 | Cello | Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations |
| Jacob Schafer, PC '15 | Violin | Mozart - Violin Concerto No. 5 | |
| 2012-13 | Jennifer Gersten, SY '16 | Violin | Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto |
| Frank Wu, SY '15 | Piano | Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 1 | |
| 2011-12 | Margret Erlensdottir, DC '15 | Piano | Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2 |
| Asa Maynard, MC '16 | Double Bass | Koussevitzky - Double Bass Concerto | |
| Jaci Nakamura, BR '15 | Flute | Mozart - Flute Concerto No. 1 | |
| 2010-11 | Gabriel Levine, TC '14 | Bassoon | Mozart - Bassoon Concerto |
| Merav Stern, SY '13 | Cello | Boccherini - Cello Concerto No. 3 in G |