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"Dedicated to broadening public appreciation of new American music” —NY Daily News
Congratulations to Chris Rogerson of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!
His String Qua
rtet No. 1 has won the New York Art Ensemble 2010 Young Composer Competition. Chris Rogerson (b. 1988) is in the Bachelor of Music program at the Curtis Institute of Music studying with Jennifer Higdon.
Chris began playing the piano at age two and the cello at age eight. He has received awards from ASCAP, the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, the National Association for Music Education, the Society for New Music, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Composers Forum, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, and counter)induction--a composer/performer collective. He currently studies cello with William Stokking, piano with Marian Zarzecna, and counterpoint with Ford Lallerstedt.
As the winner of the New York Art Ensemble 2010 Young Composer Competition, Chris will receive a $1,000 award, a performance, and a digital recording of his String Quartet No. 1. The piece will be performed June 5 on the 2010 Tribeca New Music Festival at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City.
Runners Up
Congratulations to everyone who participated in this national competition. In addition to the winning piece, the New York Art Ensemble wishes to acknowledge some of the other exceptional works that were entered:
• The Honorable Mentions category recognizes the top tier of composers that were in contention to win.
• The Emerging Composers category recognizes those who have shown great promise with their entries.
Honorable Mention
(in alphabetical order)
Ron Amchin for his Three Pieces for Unaccompanied Clarinet
Eleanor Bragg for her Piano Trio
Nathan Canfield for his Piano Trio in G Major
Dan Caputo for his Quartet in 3 Movements
Marcus Carline for his A Walk in the Rain
Louis Chiappetta for his Broken Soliloquies for Piano Quartet
Griffin Cohen for his As the Universe Unfolds
Emily Cooley for her Metemorphose
Anteo Fabris for his Zombie Dogs of the Apocalypse
Tonia Ko for her Spindrift for Solo Violin
Yeeren Immanuel Low for his Four Bagatelles
Christopher Lowry for his Suite for Viola and Piano
Michael Martin for his The Cinnamon Peeler
Gabriella Smith for her Down the Foggy Ruins of Time
Emerging Composers
(in alphabetical order)
Michael Bennett for his Stained Glass and Birds
Mahlon Berv for his Gypsy Fantacy
Eleanor Bragg for her Horn Quintet
Yihan Chen for his Wind Quintet
Dominic Coles for his Quintet for Winds
Serena Creary for her Constellations
Costas Dafins for his Piano Quintet #1
Nickolas DiBerardino for his Sparkplug
Aviva Hakanoglu for her Search
Solomon Hoffman for his Green
Caroline Inzucchi for her The Tragic Hero
Felix Jordan Jarrar for his String Quartet Op. 4 in C Major
Sidarth Jayadev for his Concertativi Noctae
Samn Johnson for his String Quartet #2
Chloe La Chance for her The Bluewater Waltz
Sharif Labban for his Piano Suite
Ryan Laney for his In a Dream
Elbert Liu for his The Henge
Bob Logan for his Three Character Pieces
Thomas Mellan for his Toccata and Interruptions T19
Walter Nicols for his Four Observations
Aubree Oliverson for her Sunrise Trio
Ethan Pakchar for his Little Five Points
Eric Segerstrom for his Driftwood
Anthony Vine for his Every Something is an Echo of Nothing
A number of young composers have asked for a critique of their music. It's not practical to answer everyone individually, but we will offer some general suggestions, both technical and musical.
• Score: You are the score. When you enter a score that looks bad (hard to read, stapled together, notation on only one side of the page, original pencil manuscript, not spiral bound, etc.), it sends a negative message. It says that you don't care about your music. And, that effects the attitude of the musicians who evaluate and perform your work--i.e., “If the composer doesn't care, why should I?” So, make your scores look professional. Even if you feel unsure of yourself, make the score and parts easy to read, spiral bound, and well thought out with logical page turns. The best way to kill a rehearsal of your music is to have an illegible score and parts. Musicians will spend more time asking questions about the score (“Is this an e or an f?”) rather than playing your music.
• Music: Use strong ideas. It doesn't matter if your piece starts soft or loud, fast or slow, you should present strong ideas--music that makes a definite impression, catches one's imagination, and then does something with it.
• Harmony: Harmonic language is all over the map in the 20th and 21st century. And that's great--lots of possibilities. So when you delve into a new harmonic world, make sure you figure out what to do with it. We see music that starts out with very unusual and interesting harmony, but doesn't know where to take it. It becomes static and lost. Evaluate the harmonic language you're using. Experiment with it. Learn what it is that creates tension and resolution within that language.
• Style: Some of you ask, “What kind of style are you looking for?” We see all sorts of musical style and language. Our objective is to select good music--music that works. The best music is usually informed by a well-trained and intuitively driven musician. Use the musical language that best fits what you want to get across.
2011 Young Composer Competition
New Guidelines
Note: The deadline is January 7, 2011. (Make sure you include the Competition Cover Sheet with your entry.)
“Dedicated to broadening public appreciation of new American music” —NY Daily News
The New York Art Ensemble announces its 11th Annual Young Composer Competition. Its two-fold purpose is to encourage outstanding young composers in America and to provide a prominent forum for their recognition.
Award and Performance
The winning composer will receive a $1,000 cash award and a New York City performance of the winning score during the 2010 concert season, along with a CD recording of the performance. This award is presented at the sole discretion of the NYAE board of directors.
Eligibility
All composers, who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, born after December 31, 1988 are eligible.
Note: Former winners of the Young Composer Competition are not eligible.
Submission Guidelines
Works may be written for solo, duo, trio, quartet, or quintet (from one to five performers).
Instruments may include the following: flute (piccolo, alto flute), clarinet (bass clarinet), oboe, bassoon, saxophone (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone), French horn, trumpet, trombone, percussion, piano, violin, viola, cello, bass.
Acoustic works that utilize electronic playback are also acceptable.
All music must be unpublished and no more than fifteen minutes in duration.
Interested composers should submit:
• a legible, bound, full score
• a recording of the piece on a CD
• a biography, with current address, e-mail address, and phone number, and
• a stamped, self-addressed envelope, if they wish their music returned.
• a copy of the Competition Cover Sheet (click this link)
Entry Fee and Deadline
The entry fee is $25.00 per work entered. Make checks or money orders payable to the
New York Art Ensemble, Inc.
All entries must be postmarked no later than Friday, January 7, 2011.
The New York Art Ensemble is not responsible for lost or damaged material.
The winning composition will be announced on this website Friday, February 18, 2011.
Send entries or written inquires to:
Young Composer Competition
New York Art Ensemble, Inc.
640 West 139 Street, Suite 60
New York, NY 10031
e-mail: nyae@aol.com