2017 International Composition Contest
The following is the original notice posted on The Composer's Site:
"Submission for the 2017 iMelody International Composition Contest will expire on May 1, 2017. Any individual is encouraged to enter the contest. This competition is sponsored by the Liubishuhuland National Music Association and iMelody Music Club.
"The composer may submit one score in PDF format. The composition may be of any style, length, and instrumentation, but it is recommended that it last no longer than 20 minutes and that the number of required performers is less than 10.
"To submit, e-mail [email protected] with a score in PDF format and an audio recording if available. MIDI realizations are acceptable. The front page of the score must display the name of the composer. If there is a conflict between the recording and the score, the score takes precedence.
"There is no entry fee, and no cash prize will be awarded. Finalists and winners will be announced on the iMelody website by June 2017. Scores for winning works and their recordings, if available, will be posted on this page. Winning works will be performed by iMelody Music Club if possible."
Submissions are no longer accepted for the 2017 iMelody International Composition Contest. The 2018 iMelody International Composition Contest submission period will begin in March 2018.
"Submission for the 2017 iMelody International Composition Contest will expire on May 1, 2017. Any individual is encouraged to enter the contest. This competition is sponsored by the Liubishuhuland National Music Association and iMelody Music Club.
"The composer may submit one score in PDF format. The composition may be of any style, length, and instrumentation, but it is recommended that it last no longer than 20 minutes and that the number of required performers is less than 10.
"To submit, e-mail [email protected] with a score in PDF format and an audio recording if available. MIDI realizations are acceptable. The front page of the score must display the name of the composer. If there is a conflict between the recording and the score, the score takes precedence.
"There is no entry fee, and no cash prize will be awarded. Finalists and winners will be announced on the iMelody website by June 2017. Scores for winning works and their recordings, if available, will be posted on this page. Winning works will be performed by iMelody Music Club if possible."
Submissions are no longer accepted for the 2017 iMelody International Composition Contest. The 2018 iMelody International Composition Contest submission period will begin in March 2018.
Results
We have evaluated 140 submissions from 129 composers all around the world, and congratulate all of the contestants for their dedication toward creating new music.
The judging process involved professional-level and common people's evaluation of every piece. University-level music theory students, performers, composers, and volunteer listeners formed a diverse panel that considered the compositions from various perspectives. Each piece was given a score based on these aspects: general appeal, or how good the piece sounds; presentation, which includes overall professionalism and notational competence; dynamicity, or a tendency toward musical progression and change; use of dynamics; musical flow; articulations; creativity; practicality, which accounts for appropriateness in orchestration; melodic prominence; use of rhythm; and harmonization. The higher-scoring pieces were considered, and from those, a holistic evaluation based on the score and a qualitative analysis was used to nominate 18 pieces for the final evaluation, which involved all judges ranking the nominated pieces. The average rank of each piece was used to determine the final rank.
Evaluating music is a subjective process, and we did embrace allocating a portion of the score of each piece to "appeal". However, we also took into account key aspects of composition, including use of dynamics and harmonization, which were evaluated more objectively. All of these aspects are independent of the scale of the work, so for pieces with the same overall score, the "larger" work was usually considered "better" unless the appeal of the "smaller" work was markedly greater upon further review.
Below are the winners of the 2017 iMelody International Composition Contest. Recordings and scores will be posted later.
1st Place: Três Peças Brasileiras Para Duo de Violões (Three Brazilian Pieces for Guitar), Op. 22 - Ivan Lyran 2nd Place: Vegas Underground - Caleb Hammer 3rd Place: The Everlasting Water Rose - Prologue - Mike Ring
The judging process involved professional-level and common people's evaluation of every piece. University-level music theory students, performers, composers, and volunteer listeners formed a diverse panel that considered the compositions from various perspectives. Each piece was given a score based on these aspects: general appeal, or how good the piece sounds; presentation, which includes overall professionalism and notational competence; dynamicity, or a tendency toward musical progression and change; use of dynamics; musical flow; articulations; creativity; practicality, which accounts for appropriateness in orchestration; melodic prominence; use of rhythm; and harmonization. The higher-scoring pieces were considered, and from those, a holistic evaluation based on the score and a qualitative analysis was used to nominate 18 pieces for the final evaluation, which involved all judges ranking the nominated pieces. The average rank of each piece was used to determine the final rank.
Evaluating music is a subjective process, and we did embrace allocating a portion of the score of each piece to "appeal". However, we also took into account key aspects of composition, including use of dynamics and harmonization, which were evaluated more objectively. All of these aspects are independent of the scale of the work, so for pieces with the same overall score, the "larger" work was usually considered "better" unless the appeal of the "smaller" work was markedly greater upon further review.
Below are the winners of the 2017 iMelody International Composition Contest. Recordings and scores will be posted later.
1st Place: Três Peças Brasileiras Para Duo de Violões (Three Brazilian Pieces for Guitar), Op. 22 - Ivan Lyran 2nd Place: Vegas Underground - Caleb Hammer 3rd Place: The Everlasting Water Rose - Prologue - Mike Ring
- Full Score
- Recording
- Notes: The recording is of the composer, Mike Ring, performing the piece in Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri. He wishes that more people perform this work.
- Full Score
- Recording
- Notes: The recording is an incomplete recording of the first movement. For complete recordings of the second through fourth movements, you can go to this Spotify album.
- Full Score
- Recording
- Notes: The hornist in the recording is Karolina Drapiewska, and the harpist is Marta Kasprzyk.
- Sample Score
- Recordings: Premiere, Second Performance