Before there was Canadian Idol, there was the Ron W. Ianni Memorial Performance Scholarship Competition. The School of Creative Arts invites the public to this year’s show, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, January 17, in the Heritage Room, Assumption Hall.

The contestants, all music students, won invitations based on their outstanding grades in the December performance juries. Now they will use their talents to claim the school’s most-prestigious award for performance.

This year’s entrants include two previous winners and an additional returning performer:

• soprano Angelica Sciacca performing “The Bird of the Wilderness” by Edward Horsman;
• bass Jacob Flynn performing “O Mistress Mine,” a text by William Shakespeare set to music by Roger Quilter;
• vocalist Lisette Gagnon, the 2014 winner, performing “Oh! Lady Be Good” by George and Ira Gershwin;
• saxophonist Cheyenne McLaughlin perfoming “Vocalise” by Sergei Rachmaninoff;
• trumpeter Preston Leschyna performing  the “Allegro Con Spirito” movement from Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto;
• drummer Brandon Lefrancois, the 2015 winner, performing “Ornithology” by Charlie Parker and Benny Harris;
• pianist Nadia Santoro, making her second straight appearance, playing “Italian Concerto BWV 971, I” by J.S. Bach.

Jurors will assess the finalists and the winner of the scholarship will be announced at the conclusion of the concert. The $500 annual award was established by Mina Grossman-Ianni and the School of Music in 2005 to honour the late president of the University of Windsor.

Complete performer biographies, photos and repertoire details are available on the event webpage. Admission to Sunday’s concert is $10; $5 for students. Tickets available at the door or in advance by phone at 519-253-3000 ext. 4212, or online.