"Dean's Prize" Composition Competition
Sponsored by the Jacobs School of Music Dean and Composition Department, the Dean’s Prize Composition Competition has been held annually since 1977 and since 1993 had also included the commission of a new work from the winner of category B. Submission procedures at the bottom of this page!
"Dean's Prizes" are awarded in four categories:
Category A
$500 for a work for orchestra or concert band with or without electronics, with a minimum duration of 5 minutes. (minimum orchestra size: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons; 2 horns, 1 trumpet, 1 trombone; strings [multiple players on each part]). Providing that the winning score does not involve soloist or chorus and has a duration under 15 minutes, the department will make efforts to arrange for the performance of the work during summer or during the following season by one of the school's orchestras or bands.
Category B
$300 for a chamber or ensemble work for three to seventeen players, with or without voice or electronics, with a minimum duration of 8 minutes. Additionally, if the chosen student is returning to IU the following year or is graduating from the DM program, the winner of this category will be offered a $700 commission to compose a new work for ensemble which will be premiered by the IU New Music Ensemble. If the Cat. B prize winner is ineligible for the commission, another student will be chosen for that opportunity. Duration, instrumentation and a deadline for the new work are to be decided in consultation with director of the NME and the student's current teacher.
NOTE: The Georgina Joshi Composition Commission Award is now being handled separately from category B. See instructions at that page for entries. Students may submit a work for BOTH the Joshi commission and Cat. B; in this case, upload duplicate files with the appropriate filenames.
Category C (Open to undergraduates only)
$300 for a chamber work for up to ten performers for any combination of instruments and/or voices, with or without electronics, with a minimum duration of 5 minutes.
Category D (Established in honor of Morris and Sheila Hass)
$300 for a work that is either solely electroacoustic or that uses electronics as a significant part of its instrumentation and that does not conform to one of the categories described above.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
- Entries which fall outside the guidelines stated above for each category, or which do not follow the conditions below, cannot be considered.
- All compositions submitted must have been composed during the student's tenure in the Indiana University School of Music.
- Students may submit different works in several categories, but no more than one work in any single category.
- Submitted scores should demonstrate a high standard of notation, whether copied by hand or by computer.
- Audio files are optional (except for cat. D).
- The duration of the composition should be indicated on the title page.
- If the judges feel that no entry is worthy of the award, none will be made. Decisions will be announced as soon as feasible after the deadline.
- Students can only win one category in a single year.
- Winners from previous years are only allowed to enter categories they have not yet won.
DEADLINE:
12:00 noon, on the Monday following Spring Break.
SUBMISSIONS:
Cat. A, B & C: PDF score only. Make sure that your score is formatted well and understand that today this partly means that people can peruse your score efficiently on a computer monitor. Speak to your teacher if you have any question about this.
All PDFs and mp3s must be uploaded to the Submissions Folder at: https://iu.box.com/s/do48byje8lu01ok233np
Use this format for filenames:
<A,B,C or D>_<lastname>_<title>.pdf
Example of a category A entry filename: A_Baker_Lamentations.pdf
Example of a category B entry filename: B_Freund_Pentecost.pdf
Recordings are strongly recommended though not required. Upload mp3s with filenames as above but ending ".mp3" (do not submit ".wav." or ".aif" files)
ELIGIBILITY:
Categories A,B,C: enrollment in composition. Cat. D: enrollment in composition or electronic music. [Fall enrollment provides eligibility for the following spring.]
The commissioned student (Cat. B) must be returning to IU the following year or graduating from the DM program.