Any Composition Competitions for High School Composers?

compmom
Tue, 22 Jul 2014 02:34:35 +0000

I would add to Spirit Manager’s excellent suggestions, ASCAP Morton Gould for under 18, and your state music teachers’ organization(s).

You mentioned grades slipping due to health problems. Do you have a 504 plan? Did your school accommodate your health issue? There really is no reason that a health issue should affect grades. You should have had excused absences, postponed projects and tests, extensions, a notetaker. In fact, if you missed school, you could perhaps have had tutoring and even daily reports from teachers on what was done in class with complete set of materials missed etc.

Can your professor/teacher help you get pieces played? Do you know any musicians who could help you out or could you pay them?

Summer programs, if chosen carefully, can provide great recordings. (My personal favorite is Walden School in NH but there are many.) Competitions are great for giving you and idea of where you stand but often they favor certain aesthetics so don’t put too much stock in them. And most don’t offer a recording, because you send a recording in, but some do.

Mainly, keep writing music and find some way to get it played. You will need 3-4 pieces for a portfolio but remember too that most colleges, as opposed to conservatories, will not require a portfolio and even one recorded piece will enable you to submit an arts supplement to the common app. Hope that helps!