Composition contests!

Eh. I'm working on my third and fourth compositions, lifetime. Neither of the first two are eligible for most of the contests, one being too long and the other being a chamber miniature.

I would get to work RIGHT NOW on a full orchestral score. You will need one to enter most of these contests. You definately should not let these great opportunities pass! There is too much to miss and it's hard enough finding stuff like this for young composers to do and get their work performed.

For some reason I tend to have problems writing full orchestral scores.
I've never actually completed one before.

Problems with what? Coming up with melodic material? All the different keys? Transposing?

I'd love to enter a composition contest!! But unfortunately it seems that they all require a lot of info... a letter of recommendation from a music person familiar with my work? How could I print out A3 scores? Plus i'd have to mail it all to the USA which would take a while and cost quite a bit.

On top of all that I don't think I'm good enough (yet) to submit anything for an actual performance. I wouldn't stand a chance against people who actually know about music!

Aren't there composition contests for people who haven't studied music?

I wish there were... also being a completely self-taught amateur composer, I share your pain.

That said, you're a lot better than you think - your Alpine Overture blew away most of the stuff here written by people that do study music full-time, and would have a pretty good chance in almost any competition you enter it in.

The real difficulty, as an amateur composer, is that one often cannot afford to write for a competition, because it would require delaying more significant pieces (and possibly interfering with the primary career).

I decided in about November that I was going to enter the Morton Gould Competition. It should be fun.

Juventas is a musical group in Boston that does all contemporary, and are constantly calling for new scores. Even if your piece isn't chosen in one selection period, it's held over to each one after that.

I wish there were... also being a completely self-taught amateur composer, I share your pain.

That said, you're a lot better than you think - your Alpine Overture blew away most of the stuff here written by people that do study music full-time, and would have a pretty good chance in almost any competition you enter it in.

The real difficulty, as an amateur composer, is that one often cannot afford to write for a competition, because it would require delaying more significant pieces (and possibly interfering with the primary career).

Definitely! A law degree ain't no walk in the park But we get very long summer holidays when I'll have all the time in the world to compose!

I'm going to try to finish a new score for the Morton Gould competition as well. That is put on by ASCAP...so It's a huge honor if you win.

As a matter of fact, there is an upcoming competition I posted that is for grade school composers only. That is the MENC competition. You can enter anything you want with that. (It doesn't have to be an orchestral score like I think I posted.)