On Monday October 28, the winning compositions from the 2013 NAfME Student Composers Competition were performed in concert at the NAfME National In-Service Conference at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.
The compositions spanned musical genres, and were performed by several faculty members from the Middle Tennessee State University School of Music, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as well as the MTSU University Chorale, the MTSU Jazz Ensemble I and the composers themselves.
In September, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) announced the winners of the 2013 Student Composers Competition. Students of Association members from 23 states submitted compositions. Compositions included instrumentation ranging from solo harp to bass clarinet, marimba, and trumpet, to big band.
The compositions were adjudicated by a panel of NAfME composer/educators, and their evaluations were shared with each student composer. Thanks to the generosity of the European American Musical Alliance and the Double R Foundation, the winning composers received a cash prize of $150 each in addition to the performance of their piece.
The winners in the 2013 competition are:
Elementary/Middle School
Elizabeth Wang, Gelinas Junior High School, Setauket, NY Teacher – Daniel Deutsch
Calvin Lu, Marlboro Middle School, Marlboro NJ Teacher – Felicia Ruffman
Alistair Coleman, Thomas Pyle Middle School, Bethesda, MD Teacher – Susan Mathis
High School
Nicholas McConnell, Princeton High School, Princeton, NJ Teacher – David Gordon
Michael Chung Hon Cheng, Clements High School, Sugar Land, TX – Teacher – Ann Witherspoon
Alexandra Bartol, T.S. Wootton High School, Rockville, MD Teacher – Valerica Maican
Gabriel Montague, Newton North High School, Newton, MA Teacher – Todd Young
Andrew Herring, Central Dauphin High School, Harrisburg, PA Teacher – Matthew Ceresini
Collegiate
Ryan Diefenderfer, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Christopher Harris, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
Immediately following the concert Daniel Deutsch, chair of the NAfME Council for Music Composition, gathered the students for special “Composers Meet Composers” session. He asked how many of them composed on paper or electronically. A few composed with a pencil, at least but most did so digitally.
Many of the composers said they will continue composing and already are at work on new works.
Photo by Randi Radcliff
Roz Fehr, NAfME Managing Editor for News, October 29, 2013. © National Association for Music Education
