The applicant must be a secondary school music student under the direction of an active member of FVA.

Composition must be an SATB (opt. divisi) choral arrangement of traditional choral style.

All completed submission materials must be sent by email to the Music Committee Chair by September 30 (music@fva.net).

• Must be submitted in PDF format, using music notation software
• Must be legible and marked for complete understanding
  • Printed with one staff for each voice part. If a voice part divides, the two may remain on the same staff.
• The time duration of the composition must be at least two minutes and long enough to be consistent with good form and taste.
• The accompaniment must be on two staves below the voice parts.
  • If the composition is a cappella, a piano reduction accompaniment must be provided for rehearsal.
• Make sure that the text you are using, if not original, is in the public domain and you have the right to set the text to music. Our panel of judges recommends selecting a poem/text that has already been published, as opposed to writing your own text. This is only a suggestion, enabling you to focus more on musical aspects if your text is already solid.

Entries shall be evaluated by 3–5 judges.

Rubric

• Dr. Terrence Lance, Bethune Cookman University
• Dr. Michael Hanawalt, Florida State University
• Dr. Andrew Larson, Stetson University
• Dr. Peter Steenblik, University of West Florida

Items to submit by email to Music Committee Chair, by September 30:

• A scanned signed copy of the completed Entry Form (PDF)
• Picture of the composer
• A PDF copy of the music manuscript
• An MP3 recording of the composition.
  • may be an electronic recording via Finale or similar composition app

• 2022: Nothing Gold Can Stay, Elizabeth Weber (Niceville HS)
• 2021: Sanctus, Lazaro Alonso (Miami Arts Studio 6–12 at Zelda Glazer)