A jury of three distinguished musicians will serve as judges for the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition.

If a contestant has studied with or otherwise had close professional or personal ties with a judge, the judge will be asked to disqualify himself or herself for that contestant. In that case, the scores from the other two judges will be averaged to provide a third score.

A presentation of any or all of the awards is at the judges' discretion. Their decision is final.