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VOICES 24th Annual Music Composition Contest for Children ages 5 to 12

VOICES Chorale announces that its annual Children’s Music Composition Contest will culminate in a Young Composer Concert on April 17, 2012, 7 pm, at Music Together in Hopewell, NJ. The deadline for contest entries is March 1.

Children ages 5 to 12 are invited to compose a piece of music with a vocal element for a soloist or   choral ensemble, either unaccompanied or with instrumental accompaniment. The music can be written down in any kind of notation, formal or invented. Parents, piano teachers, and music teachers are invited to support, but not edit, the child’s composition, as children hear things in their own imaginations differently from adults. Please submit a recording and three written copies of the child’s music (with the child’s name and age, assisting adult’s name, phone number, address, and child’s background in music), together with a $12.00 processing fee, to:

                VOICES Composition Contest, P.O. Box 404, Pennington, NJ 08534

                                    Deadline for submissions: March 1, 2012

Established composers will review all entries, and children will receive written feedback and encouragement on their pieces. In addition, there is a composition workshop for all children who enter, in which they play their pieces for each other and receive comments from their peers. Because the goal of the contest is to encourage composition, most children are declared gold and silver winners. Many children write a song with no accompaniment; others write a solo with piano or guitar accompaniment. Still others, primarily those who have been part of the program before, write for chorus. They have the option of having their piece performed at VOICES’ Young Composer Concert on April 17. A winning composition from 2010 by Emily DeLia, age 10, was recently performed at VOICES’ Christmas concerts.  

VOICES Music Composition Contest for Children is an opportunity for children to develop their musical talent and get feedback from a professional composer. Says Dr. Lyn Ransom, Music Director of VOICES Chorale: “Every child who learns to talk has the ability to sing, given the opportunity. Every young child who has musical experiences can compose a song, given the opportunity. Let the imagination of your child thrive on creating a song or a dance about a birthday, holiday, family event, or any topic of special

interest to him or her.”

For additional information on this contest and free song-writing workshops for children and their

parents, please contact Shirley Piercy at 215-598-0783 / 215-350-0682 (cell), or email at

whpiercy@aol.com. Also visit  www.VOICESChorale.org and subscribe to VOICES’ Newsletter

for updates on latest events at www.enewsarchive.com/VOICES.