17th Annual Welcome Christmas Carol Contest (August 15)

Program Description:

The custom of singing Christmas carols brings joy to the holiday season unlike any other tradition.  And every December VocalEssence and the American Composers Forum celebrate this tradition in their own unique way: championing today’s composers, exploring new works, and rediscovering lesser-known works of the past.

This year marks the seventeenth year of the Welcome Christmas Carol Contest as VocalEssence and the American Composers Forum provide composers with the opportunity to compose a modern-day carol.

Open to composers of all ages, this year’s contest requires writing a carol for SATB chorus and folk fiddle (in the Nordic tradition).  Each year, the contest has produced wonderful new settings of familiar texts and carols based on existing poems and original texts, each year with a different instrument.

The two winners will each receive a prize of $1,000, and the winning carols will be premiered at the December 5, 6, 7, 13 and 14, 2014 Welcome Christmas concerts featuring the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers with fiddler Sara Pajunen.  The performances will be recorded for national broadcast in 2015 via American Public Media.  The winners are invited to attend the rehearsals and performances at their own expense, and will have the opportunity for radio interviews as well as other media coverage and promotion.

Click here to download the complete guidelines and application. 

2014 Contest Guidelines

• World premiere: No prior performance of submitted work.
• Eligibility: Composers of all ages whose permanent residence is North America.
• Form: Carol (defined as a strophic song, which may or may not have refrains, that is associated with Christmas)
• Voicing: SATB with folk fiddle (in the Nordic tradition).
• Duration: Maximum of 3 minutes.
• Text: Sacred or secular, medieval to present, appropriate for concert setting; Christmas or seasonal winter themes accepted.  Proof of public domain or author’s written permission for use of text is required.

Who may apply

• Composers of all ages; experience writing for voice and/or choirs is beneficial.
• Applicants do not need to be members of ACF to apply.  However, if selected, the composer is expected to be a member for a one-year period.

The winners of last year’s competition were:

• Dale Trumbore (Los Angeles, CA) Ring Out! Ye Bells
• William V. Malpede (West Hollywood, CA) Sound Over All Waters

VocalEssence

Under the artistic direction of founder Philip Brunelle, VocalEssence is a champion of choral music: performing past and present repertoire for voices, commissioning new works from today’s composers, and celebrating the human experience through concerts and community engagement.  VocalEssence has been recognized by ASCAP with five awards for its adventurous programming of contemporary music and has been honored with the Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence.  The VocalEssence Ensemble Singers are the 32-voice professional chorus of VocalEssence and the core of its 125-voice Chorus.