Young Composers Competition

COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL

Sponsored by Arden and Harry Fisher

Since 2004, the Young Composers Competition has recognized and encouraged the efforts of those between the ages of 12 and 21 who are involved in the creative process of composing music.  This program, unique to the St. Louis region, is an open competition which has received submissions from St. Louis and throughout the nation.  Each year brings a new nationally known guest composer who is passionate about working with future generations of composers. Past guest composers have included Claude Baker, Zack Browning, John Cheetham, Dino Constantinides, Steven Dankner, Beth Denisch, Don Freund, Lansing McLoskey, James Mobberly, Shulamit Ran, Jared Spears, and Chen Yi.  

Awardees have their works performed by professional musicians in a public concert that is professionally recorded. Each awardee receives a written critique of his/her work and a conference with the guest composer.

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2017-18 Young Composer Competition Winners

Level One (12-16 years of age):

Co-1st Place, Solomon Ge, 14, from San Jose CA - for "Metamorphosis"
Co-1st Place, Bo Huang, 16, Rutherford NJ - String Trio

Co-2nd Place, Brinson Moore, 15, Greenwood, SC - Violin Sonata No. 2
Co-2nd Place, Avik Sarkar, 16, Chestnut Hill, MA - "Ragini"

Level Two (17-21 years of age): 

1st Place, Josiah Sprankle, 21, Kansas City, MO - "Sanguine and Phlegmatic" from The Four Temperaments 

2nd Place, Julian Freyo, 21, Cleveland, OH - "Zafiro"

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Young Composers Competition Weekend Events:

Workshops:  Saturday, March 24, 2018

Emerging Composers Concert:  Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 3:00 pm featuring winning works from the 2017-18 Young Composers Competition performed by some of St. Louis' premiere musicians. 

All events are open to the public at the CMS Center, 535 Garden Ave., St. Louis, MO 63119

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2017-18 Guest Composer 
Kyong Mee Choi 

Kyong Mee Choi, composer, organist, painter, and visual artist, received several prestigious awards and grants including John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, Robert Helps Prize, Aaron Copland Award, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, First prize of ASCAP/SEAMUS Award, Second prize at VI Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo, Honorary Mentions from Musique et d’Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges, Musica Nova, Society of Electroacoustic Music of Czech Republic, Luigi Russolo International Competition, and Destellos Competition. She was a Finalist of the Contest for the International Contemporary Music Contest "Citta' di Udine and Concurso Internacional de Composicai eletroacoustica in Brazil among others. Her music was published at CIMESP (São Paulo, Brazil), SCI, EMS, ERM media, SEAMUS, and Détonants Voyages (Studio Forum, France). Ravello records publishedher multimedia opera, THE ETERNAL TAO, which was supported by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and Roosevelt University. Aucourant Recordspublished her CD, SORI, featuring her eight compositions for solo instrument and electronics. The project was supported by the IAS Artist Project Grant from the Illinois Arts Council. She is the Head of Composition and an Associate Professor of Music Composition at Roosevelt University in Chicago where she teaches composition and electro-acoustic music. Samples of her works are available at http://www.kyongmeechoi.com.

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Past Young Composer Competition Winners and Guest Composers:

 Questions? Call (314) 968-5939 or email Justin Blackburn at JBlackburn77@webster.edu