Nicholas Hartman, winner of the first competition, plays fourth horn in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the orchestra.

POTSDAM -- The Orchestra of Northern New York will host an instrumental competition for North Country students, with the first place winner earning a spot in the orchestra at an upcoming concert.

The seventh annual James & Katherine Andrews Young Artist Instrumental Competition will be held Saturday, Jan. 19 in Hosmer Hall, SUNY Potsdam. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the lobby, with the competition to begin at 9:15 a.m. The winner will be announced at noon.

The competition is open to high school students in St. Lawrence, Lewis, Jefferson, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Warren and Hamilton Counties.

This year’s contestants will be Musashi Happo, Hammond Central School, on clarinet; Sabrina Johnson, Colton-Pierrepont Central School, on trumpet; Noah Landers, Carthage High School, on piano; Julia Murray, Saranac Lake High School, on flute; Andrea Peters, Beaver River Central School, on violin; Jacob Anneler Zehr, Carthage High School, on piano; Gabriella Zehr, Lowville, on violin and Abigail Zehr, Beaver River Central School, on French horn.

Competitors will choose a classical concerto from an approved list and prepare and perform the piece from memory. They will receive feedback from a panel of professional musicians, with monetary prizes to the top three performers.

The first place winner will also perform their piece with the orchestra during the Mar. 8 and Mar. 9 “Peter and the Wolf” concert at Hosmer Hall, SUNY Potsdam.

Past winners of the competition include Lilia Woolschlager, Croghan (2011 & 2012); Nicole Moody, Lake Clear (2010); Andrew Horwitz, Canton (2009); Benjamin Hull, Madrid (2008); and Nicholas Hartman, Potsdam (2007), who recently played fourth horn in the orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony this past October.

More information about the orchestra, concert tickets, and the Young Artist Competition can be found at www.ONNY.org.