The Palouse Choral Society eagerly announces its composition contest as part of its goal to perform new music and champion the works of emerging composers. The Palouse Choral Society will premiere the winning composition in our fall 2024 concert season: either in October or December.
Eligibility: All composers are eligible regardless of educational level or past experience.
Award: The winning composer will receive a $500 honorarium as well as 2 free tickets to the premiere performance
Submission Details: Submit a PDF score via email to artisticdirector@palousechoralsociety2.org. Title your email as “PCS Composition Contest Submission.” The score should be engraved using music notation software (Finale, Sibelius, NoteFlight, etc.). You may include an MP3 recording (MIDI or live musicians), but this is not required.
Parameters:
Duration - The work should last 2-4 minutes in total. (Multimovement works which fit within these parameters are acceptable.)
Text - The text must be original or in the public domain. Liturgical texts are acceptable. If you use a copyrighted text, you must provide a letter of permission from the copyright owner. The piece may be in any language, but texts in languages aside from English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish, or Ukrainian should include a pronunciation guide with IPA.
Voicing - SATB choir. Some divisi is acceptable, especially in soprano/alto parts, but no more than SSAATTBB. Short solos are acceptable, but do not feature a soloist for the entire work.
Instrumentation - A cappella or with piano. You may include one obbligato instrument. If the work is a cappella, please include a piano reduction in the score.
Composition Date - The work should have been composed in the past five years. Publication - The work must not yet be published.
Originality - The work should be an original composition, not an arrangement.
Performance History - The work must not have been performed publicly. The work will receive its world premiere in 2024 by the Palouse Choral Society.
Limits on Entries - Composers may submit up to two works per year.
Deadline: June 15, 2024
Required: PDF score of work.
Required (if applicable): Permission letter from text’s copyright owner, pronunciation guide.
Optional: Recording of work.
Winners will be announced by July 1, 2024. If no entries are suitable, the Chorale reserves the right not to select a winner. Second place and third place may be recognized, but only the winning composition will be performed.
Evaluation: A panel of 2 guest judges and the PCS artistic director will review all submissions.
Copyright: The Palouse Choral Society will retain unlimited performance and mechanical rights to performances and recordings made by the Palouse Choral Society. The composer will retain all other copy, performance, and mechanical rights to their works.
