Inversion Ensemble is now accepting submissions for our annual Sandra Fivecoat Memorial Composition Contest. The composer of the winning piece will receive a prize of $750 and a performance by our professional treble choral ensemble Da Capo at their “Hear Me Roar” concert that will take place on March 1 & 2, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Submissions are due Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 11:59 PM Central Time. Da Capo welcomes the use of extended technique, non-traditional forms, graphic scores, etc.

Qualifications:

Composers must be able to legally accept payment in U.S. dollars. There is no age restriction for composers. Preference will go to composers belonging to BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ communities. The contest is not open to any current and past singers or composers of Inversion Ensemble.

Composition Requirements:

  • Performance time between 3 to 5 minutes

  • Scored for treble choir, a cappella or with piano accompaniment

  • Suitable for a professional choir

  • Concert title and theme: Hear Me Roar is a concert that features music that empowers and uplifts voices that are often silenced—that of BIPOC women, folks in the non-binary and LGBTQIA+ communities, and countries suffering from the ravages of war.

  • Any text for the piece must be the composer’s original writing, in the public domain, or be accompanied by a letter of permission from the copyright owner. Text can be in any language, with the composer providing IPA or phonetic transcriptions if necessary.

  • Scores must be engraved using Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, Musescore, or similar, and submitted in PDF format, with the composer’s name removed. The PDF copy must be clear, clean, and legible. No handwritten scores will be considered. Graphic scores may be a PDF scan of a hand-written score if applicable.

  • Submitted pieces may have received previous performances, but may not be published by a publishing house prior to March 1, 2025. Self-published scores are acceptable.

  • Please submit only one (1) entry total.

  • No fee is required for submission.

Fill out the google form to provide the following:

  • Composer and composition information

  • PDF copy of your composition without your name anywhere on the body of composition.

  • MP3 recording or midi rendering without your name anywhere

Judging criteria include, but are not limited to:

  • Compositional structure

  • Voice leading

  • Harmonic language

  • Adherence to concert theme

  • Text selection and setting

  • General understanding of choral idiom

All entries must be submitted by  Wednesday January 15, 2025 at 11:59 PM Central Time. The winner will be notified no later than January 29, 2025, and have the opportunity to have a Zoom meeting with Da Capo Director Katrina Saporsantos. The winner will receive a $750 cash prize, inclusion of the piece on our March 1 and 2, 2025, concert, and a recording of composition concert performances. The composer is welcome but not required to attend the concert. Unfortunately, no funds are available to offset travel costs.

Please fill out this form and upload materials here.

Send questions here: outreach@inversionatx.org