Rapido Composition Contest

Take Four!! Contest Rules

  1. The contest is open to the first 100 online registrants (in each region) of any age and level of experience who are residents or full-time student residents of one of the 50 United States. Online registration and entry submission will be by region — Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, or West Coast and only ONE registration may be made:

    • Southeast Region: AL, DE, FL, GA, KY, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV, DC
    • Northeast Region: CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
    • Midwest Region: IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, OH, SD, WI
    • Southwest Region: AR, AZ, CO, LA, MO, MT, NE, NM, OK, TX, UT, WY
    • West Coast Region: AK, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, WA
  2. Entrants must register online for the contest by 9am EDT on June 1, 2015, with entry fee of $40 to be paid at registration. Registrants will electronically sign and agree to Terms & Conditions (including eligibility requirements, Participant Release Form, Participant Performance and Recording Agreement). Registration fees are non-refundable. Because registration is limited to the first 100 registrants per region, registration in a region could close before June 1st!
  3. Strict composition requirements (using classical instrumentation) will be emailed to registrants’ email addresses and posted on the Rapido! website at 9 am EDT on June 8, 2015.

      A new, original work of 4-6 minutes is to be composed between June 8-22, 2015.

       Required Instrumentation and Form: Theme & Variations, written for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano


  4. Entrants may submit only new compositions written during the 14-day period of June 8-June 22, 2015. Any work not exactly following the required instrumentation and directions will not be accepted.
  5. Registrants will submit scores and parts as PDF files, and mP3s to their Rapido registration account; instructions will be provided. MP3 sound files should be generated using any standard notation software PLAYBACK function; please use MIDI or a similar electronic musical instrument when generating the MP3 file. 128, 160 or 256 kbps for your MP3 file is acceptable. MP3 files of live performer readings are discouraged. Scores must be submitted anonymously; the composer’s name should NOT appear on any page of the score, parts or mP3. Only electronic submissions can be accepted.
  6. Electronic submissions MUST BE RECEIVED BY 11:59pm EDT on June 22, 2015.
  7. Three Semi-Finalists in each region (Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, & West Coast) will be chosen by August 17, 2015, notified by email, and announced on the Rapido! website. Anonymous judging will be by Rapido! ensemble musicians, renowned composers and music dignitaries.
  8. Each Semi-Finalist will be awarded $500 to be used for travel to Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, or San Francisco for Fall 2015 Semi-Final Concerts and is required to attend. One Finalist per region will be selected at each of the five Semi-Finals Concerts, which will be scheduled for Fall 2015.

    • Atlanta (SE region): October 27, 2015 - 7:30pm
    • Boston (NE region): November 21, 2015
    • Dallas (SW region): October 25, 2015
    • Detroit (MW region): November 15, 2015 - 3pm
    • San Francisco (West Coast region): November 9, 2015 (in Sacremento)
  9. Each Finalist will be awarded $500 to be used for travel to Atlanta for the January 17, 2016 National Finals Concert and is required to attend.
  10. An Audience Favorite Prize of $500 will be awarded at the National Finals Concert to one Finalist, chosen by online internet voting.
  11. The First Prize Commission of $7500 will be awarded at the National Finals Concert to one national winner to expand by 10 to 12 minutes his or her short, submitted work, for performance by the five partner ensembles in Fall 2016. The national winner will also be invited to create a 12-15 minute work for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, to be premiered in Spring 2017. (This orchestral score may utilize material from the chamber work or may be a completely new work.)
  12. Decisions of the judges will be final. No winners may be declared if judges determine that the compositions are not appropriate for programming by the Rapido! ensembles or by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
  13. The musicians and staff of all Rapido partner ensembles and all of their immediate families are ineligible to compete in the Rapido Composition Contest.
Ensembles Atlanta Symphony Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Voices of Change Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings Boston Musica Viva Atlanta Chamber Players