1st Annual Young Composers Commission Award
for The Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young
The Rivers School Conservatory invites high school-aged composers to compete for a chance to create a commissioned 6-8 minute work for four-hand piano to be performed at The Rivers School Conservatory Annual Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young in April of 2021. The winning composer will earn a commission fee of $1,000 and have the chance to collaborate with impressive young musicians and faculty including internationally-acclaimed composer, Dr. Stephen Halloran. Dr. Halloran’s honors include the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship, multiple ASCAP grants, the Renee B. Fisher Award for his piece, “The Galilee Hitchhiker” for piano, and the Princess Grace Award for the film score for “Poet.”
● March 10, 2020: Applications Due to The Rivers School Conservatory
● Early April, 2020: Award Notification
● October 15, 2020: Composition Completion Date
● Late February, 2021: Workshop with Faculty and Performers
● Early April, 2021: Premiere Performance and Live Recording Published
Applicants must be:
● At least 14 years of age
● A citizen or permanent resident of the United States
● Currently enrolled at an accredited high school (or home-schooling program)
We invite young composers to submit the following required application materials to Dr. Stephen Halloran at s.halloran@rivers.org:
● Artistic résumé
● Letter of recommendation from a teacher, music or otherwise, including band or chorus conductors
● Short essay (200 – 400 words) describing your musical interests
● PDF scores of two contrasting works for any instrumentation, with at least one featuring a substantial role for the piano
● Recordings of your two works as MIDI files or live recordings (5 GB max.)
The determination for artistic merit will be judged solely on the written score. Works with electronics will not be considered. The commissioned composition cannot be premiered prior to this event.