For young musicians on Long Island or in New York City hoping to showcase their talent, this year could be a good one for “Your Big Break.”
The Your Big Break competition, hosted by the Gold Coast Arts Center and Love Revolution and returning for its sixth year, announced last week that it is accepting submissions until Jan. 7.
The contest, open to musicians 15 to 25 living on Long Island or the five boroughs without recording or publishing contracts, has aimed to break unharnessed talent into the music industry.
Winners of the competition have a chance to perform at a venue like the Paramount, get professional management services, musical equipment and featured on ReverbNation.com, which has been used by more than 4 million artists.
The previous contest was a showcase of girl power in the final round, with six young women competing for a record deal and a chance to open at the Paramount. In addition to performing two songs of their choice, they performed a George Michael song chosen by judges and received mentoring.
This year’s mentors haven’t been selected yet.
Last year’s finalists included two North Shore residents – Julia Hayden from Port Washington and Sydney Perruzza of Carle Place – as well as Julia Lambert from Islip Terrace, Jaclyn Manfredi, Lydia Von Hof, 15, and Paris Ray, 21, a St. James native who ultimately won the competition.
Tara Eberle-Drouin, a judge since the inception of “Your Big Break” and a member of the band Iridesense, previously said that originality, stage presence, charisma, interaction, overall musical ability and audience votes all play a role in how the artists rank.
Anyone interested should email gnacbigbreak@gmail.com with one MP3 song, a photo and a short biography of themselves or enter online at ReverbNation.com. Contest entry is free.
There will be artist showcases on Feb. 3, March 10 and April 21 in the Gold Coast Acoustic Café at 113 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, NY.
