The Society of Composers, Inc., in conjunction with ASCAP, is pleased to announce the tenth of a series of annual commissions to be awarded to two student composers. The winners will be selected from a pool of finalists from each region, and their music will be subsequently premiered at a National Conference and recorded.

• Submit both a score and a cassette tape or CD of one work for any combination of instruments, voices, and/or electronics. The work must show competency in writing for the chosen medium.
• Regardless of medium submitted, the subsequent commission may be limited to a particular instrumentation (to be negotiated with the host of the National Conference).
• The recording you submit can be of a studio session, a live performance or a sequenced format. You may determine your region by visiting the region information page.
• Exception! Note that region V is divided into two parts:
  • V (East) -- IN, MI, OH, (ON) and
  • V(West) -- IL, IA, MN, ND, SD, WI, (MB)

• All entrants must be SCI members (at any level) at the time of submission. The student rate is $27.50 per year. If your institution has an SCI student chapter, then membership dues are $17.50.

• Use the official submission form, even if you are already a member.

• Composers can be of any age and nationality, but they must be either
  • a) a student enrolled in a college or university composition degree program, or
  • b) studying privately with a recognized professional composer
• Send proof by submitting either of the following:
  • a) a copy of your current transcript that clearly indicates your degree program, or
  • b) a letter from your composition teacher confirming that you are his/her student.

• You should mark your submission with the region in which you currently study

Adjudication

Each work will be adjudicated in one of nine regions (Region V is being divided between East and West). Three winning scores will be selected from each region and sent to the National Conference for final adjudication. Two winning composers at the national adjudication will be chosen to write new works to be performed and recorded the following year.

If there is no national conference or student national, then a regional conference host will be chosen. The judges reserve the right to reconfigure the award money. The composer may choose to have the premiere performance placed on the SCI CD, or may reserve the option to arrange his/her own recording session. While it is our intention to include winning compositions on the SCI CD series, in all cases the direct or indirect costs of an acceptable tape for inclusion must be born by the host institution, the composer, or an outside funding source.

SCI reserves the right to choose the CD on which the winning works will be produced (either on the regular SCI CD series, or a special issue every other year). SCI will endeavor to arrange the performance and recordings to the mutual satisfaction of all parties, but reserves to itself final approval of the arrangements. Nevertheless, all rights to the music will remain with the composer.

To enter, please read the Application Guidelines. Then, download and print the Submission form. This form is in PDF format, therefore, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to view and print the form. You can download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

For More Information

For more information on this competition, please contact the contest coordinator:

Kari Juusela
Phone (617)747-8629 (PW Division Office) or (617)747-2968 (Direct Line)
E-mail kjuusela@berklee.edu.

For more information on Student Chapters, please contact Nick Demos at Georgia State University:

Phone (404)651-1728
E-mail ndemos@gsu.edu.

For more information on membership, please e-mail: secretary@societyofcomposers.org.