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Glasses and Music Sheet

 Composition Competition   

The Institute for Choral Creativity (ICC), in conjunction with the William Baker Choral Foundation, is thrilled to announce its third annual composition competition!

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The ICC invites submissions of choral works from composers of any age, race, gender, or nationality; applicants’ only restrictions are that they may not be current members of any William Baker Choral Foundation ensembles and they cannot have previously won first or second prize. Two prizes—first and second—will be awarded; the ICC reserves the right not to name a second prize winner.

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The first prize winner will receive the following:

  • $1,000 cash prize;

  • Performance of the winning work in Chicago and Kansas City in May 2023, and possibly (i.e. not guaranteed) at Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston in June 2023*;

  • Publication through MusicSpoke;

  • Inclusion in the Jane Sullivan Choral Library and possible future performances by other ensembles in the William Baker Choral Foundation.

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The second prize winner will receive the following:

  • $750 cash prize;

  • Performance of the winning work in Chicago and Kansas City in May 2023*;

  • Inclusion in the Jane Sullivan Choral Library and possible future performances by other ensembles in the William Baker Choral Foundation.

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( * Should the performance date need to be postponed due to COVID-19 or any other reason, the winning composer(s) will still receive their cash prize up front.)

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Criteria for all submissions is as follows:

  • Must be written either for 1) SATB choir a cappella or 2) SATB choir with piano accompaniment;

  • Text may either be 1) in the public domain or 2) copyrighted if a letter of permission from the copyright owner is included with the submission;

  • Texts may be in any language—however, texts not in English, French, German, Italian, Latin, or Spanish must include a pronunciation guide;

  • Must be between 3 and 6 minutes in length (multi-movement works are acceptable as long as they fall within the 3-6 minute window);

  • Divisi up to 8 parts (SSAATTBB) is allowed, but should be employed sparingly;

  • If a cappella, must include a piano reduction in the score;

  • Must be anonymous—composers’ names and/or any identifying information must not appear anywhere on the score;

  • Must have been composed in the past ten (10) years;

  • Must not be published;

  • Must not have been previously performed in Illinois, Kansas, or Missouri—the ICC encourages the submission of works which have never been performed;

  • Composers may submit up to two works.

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To enter, please send the following as attachments to choralcreativity@gmail.com:

  • Completed score(s) in PDF format;

  • MIDI rendering(s) or performance recording(s) in MP3 format;

  • 250-word maximum biography in DOC or PDF format;

  • If applicable, a pronunciation guide for text(s) not in English, French, German, Italian, Latin, or Spanish;

  • If applicable, a letter of permission from the text’s copyright owner.

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Submissions must be received by November 30, 2022, End of Day, Anywhere on Earth (i.e. 11:59 PM, UTC-12:00). The results will be announced on December 31, 2022.

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Previous winners:

 

2021:

First Prize: "Come to Me in Dreams" by Caroline Mallonee

Second Prize: "the wound is the light is the place is" by Joseph Rubinstein

Honorable Mention: "An Affirmation" by Martin Kennedy

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2020:

First Prize: "Golī az dast beraft" by Daniel Sabzghabaei

Second Prize: "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Sam Wu

Honorable Mention: "street after street alike" by James May

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