7th Annual CCDA/Heussenstamm Composition Competition at ECCO

Submission by: Zanaida Robles

​The CCDA/George Heussenstamm Choral Composition Competition at ECCO now moves into its seventh year!  Last year’s winners were Matthew Lyon Hazzard with The Prow and Kate Crellin with Home Thoughts From Abroad. We now add their names to the growing list of wonderfully talented previous winners including Greg Lapp, Townsend Losey, Mark Growden, Jasper Randall and Nancy Reeves.  

Winning composers are invited to attend ECCO for FREE! Could you be next?  Find that piece that you have been developing, or start fresh, and get ready to submit your composition with the chance to have it distributed to and read by choral directors from all around the state.

Please visit www.GeorgeHeussenstamm.com to learn more about our talented and generous benefactor.  

THE CONTEST:
Composers:  CCDA members who plan to attend the Summer Conference at ECCO 2022 are invited to submit a single, unpublished, original composition. We are looking for single, stand-alone compositions, not sets and not arrangements.  Shorter works (3-5 minutes) are preferred. (Previous winners are not eligible to apply. Self-published works are NOT eligible.)

Scores:  Submit your anonymous, unpublished score, a cappella or with piano accompaniment (no obbligato instruments), any voicing, along with an anonymous demo recording (MIDI is OK but voices are preferred) to znrobles@gmail.com. Use the link on the CCDA website to enter all composition and composer information via Google Form.  

NOTE: Please be sure to remove composer’s name ANYWHERE that it might appear (title page, copyright notice, headers/footers, etc.) and even on audio file information.

Format:  
All scores must be submitted in PDF format AND all audio files must be in MP3 format.  

Date:    
Submissions will be accepted from Feb. 14, 2022 through Mar. 14, 2022, 11:59PM PST. Submissions that do not meet the above requirements WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.  
    
Compositions will be judged on the following seven criteria:  
Overall Effect
Harmonic Interest 
Proper Setting of Text 
Overall Craft 
Originality
Cosmetics of Score 
Marketability 

As we are interested in finding works that might considered for inclusion in the CCDA Choral Series with Pavane Publishing, we will consider the composition’s marketability.

Winner:  
The winning composition will be chosen by a committee of three CCDA members and will be announced on the CCDA website on April 14, 2022.  The winning composer will receive a scholarship for tuition, room, and board at ECCO 2021, and will have their composition copied, distributed and read at the summer conference. The winning composer will also receive a $500 cash prize.  The winning score may be given consideration for inclusion in the CCDA Choral Series (Pavane Publishing).

[NOTE: CCDA reserves the right to declare “no winner” if it is deemed appropriate.]

For more information, and to register your entry, please visit calcda.org.