To celebrate the diversity of music-making in the Bloomington community, the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is seeking scores to perform in its 2018-19 season.

Three winners will be announced: two winners for orchestral works (School Division and Community Division) and another for chamber work (Chamber Division). Composers can submit to more than one division but will only be eligible to win one. Works must be original and unpublished but may have been performed before.

Entry fee: No entry fee, though the winning composers are responsible for printing a score and parts if they are selected.

Instrumentation: 2222/4231/timp+2perc/str for orchestral works. Any combination of eight orchestral instruments for chamber submissions.

Selection process: Our panel is made up of BSO’s Artistic Director Alejandro Gómez Guillén, BSO Vice President Eric Lindsay, as well as other music-makers in the Bloomington community. The winning pieces will be determined based on their artistic merit as well as their level of difficulty being appropriate for a community orchestra.

Prizes: A winning piece from each division will be performed in the BSO 2018-19 season. BSO reserves the right to declare that a winner does not exist if the entry requirements and musical standards are not fulfilled. Should the winning composition be published, it must carry the designation: Winner, 2018 Bloomington Symphony Orchestra Competition on score. All royalties will remain the sole property of the composer.

Submit application, recording (MIDI’s OK) and PDF of the score through our online form by June 15, 2018. To ensure equity, composers must use a pseudonym on the score and recording.

Deadlines:

May 2, 2018 – Contest announced at BSO Spring Gala

June 15, 2018 – Scores and Applications due (submit through our online form)

July 13, 2018 – Winners announced

August 17, 2018 – Winning composers submit hard-copy score & parts to Bloomington Symphony Orchestra

P.O. Box 1823, Bloomington, IN 47402.