Opus Composition Festival

 

The Opus Composition Festival is a competitive call for scores designed to encourage students to create and write music.  Indiana Music Teachers (both IMTA members and non-members) can submit their students’ work.

The Opus Composition Festival promotes creativity and educates students in the art and craft of musical composition.  The competition will be judged by a nationally recognized professional composer, who will provide written feedback to all entrants. 

Winners in each category will have the opportunity to play his/her composition at the IMTA State Conference.

For questions regarding Opus Composition Festival, please contact Michael Seregow, Opus Chair at mpseregow@bsu.edu.

Submission Deadline for 2023 Festival Entries: Sunday, May 1, 2023

You can either pay online by Credit Card/Paypal or by mailing a Check to Indiana Music Teachers Association. Please choose the appropriate form below for the type of payment you want to use for your registration.

 

Fees and Age* Categories (for 2023 Entry)

Per Student:
Elementary (Age 5-10 as of 1/1/2024) $25
Junior (Age 11-14 as of 1/1/2024) $25
Senior (Age 15-18 as of 1/1/2024) $30
Young Artist (Age 19-26 as of 1/1/2024) $30

Teacher fee (Non-IMTA members only):
$75 (may enter any number of students)
All fees are non-refundable.

*age as of January 1, 2024

Opus Festival Rules and Submission Requirements

The Opus Composition Festival will follow the same guidelines and age categories as the MTNA Student Composition Competition. These guidelines can be found online on the MTNA Website.

Winners

  • All students who enter will receive written commentary from the competition judge, a nationally recognized composer.
  • Winners in each category will be invited to have their compositions performed at the IMTA State Conference in the Winners Recital along with the winners of Hoosier Auditions.  Composers may play their own pieces, or provide performers to play their work. Only live performances are allowed.
  • IMTA will reimburse the registration fee for the winning score in each category to be entered in the state round of the MTNA Composition Competition, worth $50-$100. (IMTA will not pay for any non-member IMTA teacher fees for entry into the state round of the MTNA Composition Competition.)
  • Winning students in the Elementary, Junior, and Senior categories will receive 50% discount in tuition to the 2023 Composition Camp at Anderson University. (Optional). The camp will be held during the week of July 25-29.

Rules and Submission Requirements

Entry Deadline: Sunday, May 1, 2023

Teachers should send the following via email to the Opus Chair, Michael Seregow, at mpseregow@bsu.edu with the subject “IMTA Opus Composition Festival Call for Scores:”

  1. A copy of each student score, either computer generated in a notation program or handwritten, in PDF format
  2. mp3s of the attached pieces, either a live performance or a MIDI realization.  These can be sent as attachments or through a filesharing service such as Dropbox.

Additionally, teachers should make a single payment via PayPal to IMTA, using the online payment entry form, covering the total entrance fees for submitted students, plus a non-member fee, if applicable. Teachers can also choose to use the check payment entry form instead, mailing a check to IMTA. See above for entry fees.  For example, if a teacher is submitting the work of one composer in the Junior Division and one student in the Senior Division, that teacher should make a single payment of $55.  If that teacher is not a member of IMTA, the total would be $130.

Additional Guidelines:

• Entrants may submit only one composition.

• The composition may be in any style for any performance medium.

• The performance time should not exceed ten (10) minutes.

• Only compositions for nine performers or less will be accepted.

• A composition that makes use of a copyrighted text must be accompanied by a written statement from the copyright holder giving permission to use the text. If the text is in the public domain, a statement signed by the student and teacher indicating this fact must accompany the entry.

Entrants must have prepared the composition with the teacher listed on the application.

• The teacher’s name must not be included on the manuscript.

Measures of the composition must be numbered, preferably at the beginning of each system.

The manuscript must be labeled with the name of the composition, the name of the student and the category (Elementary, Junior, Senior, Young Artist).

• No change may be made to the manuscript once it has been submitted with the application.

• Compositions for prepared piano are not permitted at the request of competition hosts and piano companies providing instruments.

• Competition financial obligations are the responsibility of the entrant. All fees are non-refundable

• Scores may be handwritten or computer generated; however, in order to be submitted to the MTNA state competition, scores will need to be engraved.

• Any composition that does not meet the Submission Requirements will be disqualified.