SEMMEA Composition Competition 2022

Welcome to the South Eastern District of the Massachusetts Music Educator’s Association Composition Competition 2022. Thank you to all the students that submitted pieces this year.  We are always very impressed by our students’ compositions.  As always, All entrants are invited to our compositions clinic TBA and our top compositions will receive recognition at our senior festival concert.

We are excited to have local area composer Jake O’Connor as our clinician this year.  Mr. O’Connor is originally from South East Massachusetts and took part in this very contest when we was a student in high school.  A sample of Mr. O’Connor’s music can be heard below.  His pieces was top ranked in our context during the 2015 season.

We proud to share with you this year’s top pieces.

“Unity” for String Quartet
Cameron Shave – Foxborough High School

“Volcanic Pulvirizer” for Wind Ensemble
Caio Dos Santos-Amado – Taunton High School

The Massachusetts company Noteflight sponsors our contest and gives a 1-year premium subscription to our top awarded composers.

 

It is the goal of the SEMMEA composition competition to offer the opportunity for students to engage in musical composition, share their pieces with others, and advance their compositional learning and craft.

Each year, student composers write pieces and submit them to the competition.  The submission details are below.

The goal of the SEMMEA composition competition is to offer students the opportunity to engage in musical composition, share their pieces with others, and advance their compositional learning and craft.Each year, student composers write pieces and submit them to the competition. The submission details are below.

1. Submission Guidelines
   1. Students must be from a participating high school in the South Eastern District of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association.
   2. Pieces can be in any style and for any instrumentation but must be an original work created by the student. Collaborations are accepted, however, both students will need to pay the registration fee.
   3. All entrants must submit a full score PDF score and audio recording; midi representations are acceptable.
   4. Midi recordings must be exported as an audio file.
   5. Pieces should be no longer than 10 Minutes.
   6. Pieces need to be submitted in as detailed and accurate a score as possible.
   7. All pieces must be marked with the title and the student’s name, school, and email
   8. All submissions will be judged according to the composition adjudication form below. Although there is no requirement for style or genre of music, points are more easily awarded by the rubric to music in traditional forms. There are no point values for production, lyrics, etc…. Due to this, some popular music styles, although brilliant and creative, would not yield as high a score as more traditional styles.

1. Directors must register composition students with the other instrumentalists from the school.  These students should be registered as a composition audition by selecting composition in the fields marked for both group and instrument.
2. These students will be registered for an audition time, just as other instrumentalists at the Senior Auditions at King Philip Regional High School.  For this audition, the students should come to the site with their score and recording, and be prepared to discuss their music.
3. We encourage all students to submit pieces no matter what style or length, as any student who submits a piece is invited to attend our composition clinic.  There is no limit to the number of students that can submit pieces or attend the clinic.
4. At the auditions, students can meet the composition adjudicator at the registration desk or go right to the library and wait outside until called by the adjudicator.  At the festival clinic, upon arrival, students should follow the signs to the clinic room.
5. Students may double register for composition and an instrument.
6. Students that double register should plan to audition on their instrument first before doing their composition adjudication.

“Atlantic Tempest” For Full Orchestra
Justin Moczynski – Hingham High School

2015
“An Experiment” For Winds and Percussion
Jake O’Connor – Duxbury High School

2014
“Galavanting Through a Summer Wood” For Wind Ensemble
Maria D’Ambrosio – Plymouth North High School

2013
“Twenty Feet Away” For Wind Ensemble
Alex Olsen – Foxboro High School

2012
“Untitled” for String Quartet
Rachel Walker – Sandwich High School

Pictures

2021 Clinic with Missy Mazzoli

2020 Clinic with Roger Cichy

2019 Clinic with composer Ken Amis

2018 Clinic with composer Roger Cichy

2017 Clinic with composer John Mackey

2013 Composition Clinic With Nathan Childers