Annual Student Composition Competition (June 15, 2019)

Music educators, both private instructors and school teachers, are encouraged to submit compositions by students grades 5-12 or college undergraduates, written for any combination of instruments and/or voices, to the ICF Annual Student Composers Competition. If selected for an award, students should be willing to travel to an ICF concert (location TBA) in the fall of 2019 to hear the composition performed. The ICF will make every effort to have winning compositions performed at an ICF event, but we cannot guarantee performances of pieces requiring more than three instruments or voices.

To enter the competition, the composer must be students of an ICF member or reside within the state of Iowa. A student may enter a composition in one of three categories based on the grade level equivalent:
Category 1: 5th – 8th grade;
Category 2: 9th – 12th grade;
Category 3: college undergraduate.

Cash awards: $100 and 1st prize certificate will be awarded to the top student winner in the 1st Category; $125 and a 1st prize certificate will be awarded to the top student winner in the 2nd category; $200 and a 1st prize certificate will be awarded to the top student winner in the 3rd category. Honorary certificates may also be awarded at the discretion of the judges. Winners in each category will receive a one-year, free membership in the Iowa Composers Forum, granting all the benefits of membership. The ICF reserves the right to declare no winners in a given category.

To sponsor a student composer, please submit via email two separate PDF document attachments. The first PDF should contain the full score of the composition with all parts clearly shown and no more than two parts on a staff. Scores should follow standard ensemble layout practices, including proper instrumental order and transposition. Scores should be clearly labeled with just the title of the composition but not the composer’s name. Likewise, the title of the PDF file should contain the exact same title and no composer name. For the sake of fair judging, all marks referring to the identity of the composer must be removed from the score and the PDF title.

In a separate PDF attachment titled with both the composition title and the last name of the composer, please include the following: composition title, approximate timing, instrumentation, date when the piece was written, student’s name, address, email, school, age, grade level at the time of submission; and then teacher’s name, address, telephone number, email and school (if applicable). Also include in this document local newspaper contact information, a short one-paragraph biography, and a brief paragraph containing program notes for the work. If available, please also include a link to a recording of a live or electronic performance (MIDI realization is acceptable). Please limit submissions to one work per student. Send the two PDFs in an email with the student’s name and “Student Composers Competition” in the subject field to iowacomposersforum@gmail.com. Submissions should be submitted no later than June 15, 2019.

For further information, please contact Denise Knaack at degknaack@yahoo.com.