Dear Music Teachers:
We are excited to accept music compositions from your students for the MMEA Young Composers Festival. The full guidelines are shown on the following pages, but let me address a few key points:
•Every child is capable of creating original music.
•Every grade level should be represented. We seek compositions from students who will be in grades K-12 in year following the submission deadline.
•Every idea imaginable is worthy of consideration. The pieces that are submitted can use any sound source. They may be scored for choral, instrumental, solo recorder, solo snare drum, full orchestra, rock band, jazz band, vocal band, two tubas and a piccolo, a loops and sequence program, or whatever the young composer imagines.
•Every composer who submits a piece will receive a personal response from a professional composer who is trained to provide comments to young composers. The letters will be full of praise and may suggest directions for future development of the piece or new projects for the composer to try. We want every child to have a positive educational experience.
•Every piece will be considered for premiere at the MMEA In-Service Conference in May.
•Every year the PSO will perform from our submissions on their Youth Concert Series. Pieces considered for this honor must total 3 minutes (in order to be in balance with the rest of the PSO program). A single piece could be 3 minutes long or several shorter works that total 3 minutes. The PSO may ask for permission to rescore a young composers piece to better suite the capacities of the orchestra.
Please take a day or two of instruction time to engage kids in composing and encourage them to share their compositions. We are anxious to hear new music from Maine’s bright, talented, and creative young musicians!
Submissions will be accepted through April 30, 2012.
Send any questions my way –
Cordially, Michele Kaschub, MMEA Young Composer’s Festival Chair
kaschub@usm.maine.edu