CONTEST WINNER PERFORMANCE POSTPONED UNTIL 2021

Due to the postponement of the 2020 Summer Conference, we will be unable to premiere the winning composition for the 2020 contest until 2021.  We thank those who participated in this year's competition and look forward to announcing the winner soon, and premiering the work next year!
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2020 ACDA-PA Composition Competition Winner
Congratulations to Geoffrey McKain, the 2020 ACDA-PA Composition Competition winner!! Geoff’s submission, “Close Thine Eyes” is a setting of a Roger Quilter text, composed for SATB choir and piano. The 2020 competition was open to undergraduate and graduate music students across the state. “Close Thine Eyes” will be premiered at an upcoming ACDA-PA event.

Geoffrey McKain, a 2018 graduate of Bethel Park High School, is a rising junior at Duquesne University studying music education. His primary instrument is voice, but he also plays piano and percussion. Geoffrey is currently the President of the university's ACDA chapter, and he also performs with the school's Voices of Spirit and Pittsburgh's Voces Solis. In high school, he performed with the PMEA All-State Choir for three consecutive years, as well as Pittsburgh's Junior Mendelssohn Choir his senior year. Geoffrey enjoys composing music and practicing conducting in his spare time.

2020 Composition Contest

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All student composers connected to PA - residency, or education - are invited to submit works to the Annual ACDA-PA Choral Composition Competition.
 
The winning composer will receive a $500.00 prize and the winning composition will be premiered at the ACDA-PA Summer Conference in 2020.
 
Entry Deadline is March 15, 2020
 
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO ENTER?
  1. Student composers with a Pennsylvania connection (see above) who are currently enrolled in an Undergraduate music program.  Graduate and Post Graduate students are not eligible.
  2. Students do not need to be composition majors.
  3. Previous winners of the ACDA-PA Choral Composition Competition are not eligible to enter the competition.
  4. Current board members of ACDA-PA are not eligible to enter the competition.
 
WHAT ARE THE COMPOSITION REQUIREMENTS?
  1. Duration: approx 3-5 min
  2. Voicing: SATB, divisi acceptable
  3. Accompaniment options: unaccompanied, or piano accompaniment
  4. Text may be secular or sacred and may be in any language. An English translation must be provided for any text not in English.
  5. If the text is not in the public domain, the composer must enclose a written statement of permission to use the text signed by the copyright holder.
 
WHAT ARE THE ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRY REQUIREMENTS?
In addition to the above requirements, submitted works must
  1. Be original, nor an arrangement of another composer’s work.
  2. Not be a commissioned work.
  3. Currently be unpublished and must not be published before August 31, 2020, including self-published.
  4. Not be performed prior to the ACDA-PA Summer Conference in 2020.
  5. Not have been recorded or broadcast prior to the ACDA-PA Summer Conference in 2020
  6. Not have won or placed in any prior composition contest.
  7. Only be entered in the ACDA-PA Choral Composition Competition from March 15, 2020 until the ACDA-PA Summer Conference in 2020.

Click here to read the full Contest Information & Procedures 
ACDA-PA: American Choral Directors Association of Pennsylvania
Independent voices joining to form a common theme.