Atlanta Symphony Announces Rapido! Composition Contest

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has announced the third annual Rapido! Composition Contest - a competition founded in 2009 by the Atlanta Chamber Players and the Antinori Foundation to promote new chamber music compositions and encourage new compositions by underrepresented composers of all levels of experience. The winner will receive a commission for a full orchestral work to be premiered by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in spring of 2014.

Composers of all ages are invited to submit original chamber compositions between four and six minutes in length using classical instrumentation and traditional form. The deadline for competition registration is June 1, 2012. Registration is divided into five geographic regions and limited to the first 100 applicants per region who submit their entry anonymously and electronically with a $35 registration fee.

The competition will begin on June 11, 2012, at 9 a.m. and last only 14 days. Musical form and instrumentation will be specified at the start of the 14 day competition period of June 11-25, 2012. Fifteen semi-finalists will be chosen - three from each of five geographic regions - by an anonymous panel of musicians, composers, and musical dignitaries. One finalist from each region will be chosen to compete in a National Finals Concert to be judged by Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Music Director Robert Spano.

More than $20,000 will be awarded in prize money in the 2012 contest. The 15 semi-finalists will be awarded a prize of $500 each. Each of the five finalists will receive an additional $500. An Audience Favorite Prize of $500, determined by national internet vote, will also be awarded to one of the five finalists. The national winner will receive a $7,500 First Prize Commission to expand his or her chamber work to be performed in five major U.S. cities during fall of 2013 by the Rapido! chamber ensembles: the Atlanta Chamber Players, Boston Musica Viva, Fifth House Ensemble of Chicago, Voices of Change of Dallas, and Left Coast Chamber Ensemble of San Francisco. The $7,500 First Prize Commission will also be used by the winner to compose an orchestral work to be premiered by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in the spring of 2014.

To be eligible to enter the competition, applicants must be a resident or full-time student resident of the United States. All ages and levels of experience are encouraged to apply. Only the first 100 online registrants per region will be eligible for entry in the competition. For more information about contest entry and guidelines, visit www.rapidocompositioncontest.com.

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