Great Lakes Theater Announces Songwriting Contest

Great Lakes Theater, in partnership with WCPN 90.3 FM ideastream, invites students to submit new, original music inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet for its 2012 songwriting contest. The contest is open to soloists or bands. All middle and high school students that reside in Ohio are eligible. Music submissions of all styles and genres are accepted, including instrumentals.

Four grand prize winners will be chosen by a panel of judges. Each grand prize winning entry will receive a $250 cash prize, a professionally engineered recording in WCPN's state-of-the-art studio, commemorative CDs and a radio broadcast of the song on a special edition of WCPN's Around Noon on April 23, 2012 (Shakespeare's birthday!).

To register or request more information, students should contact Great Lakes Theater's Director of Education, Daniel Hahn, by phone at (216) 241-5490 x307 or via email at dhahn@greatlakestheater.org. The deadline to register for the contest is Wednesday, February 15. Final song submissions are due Friday, March 16.

The 2012 songwriting contest is part of Great Lakes Theater's annual series of Surround outreach programming. This year's series is designed to support the classic theater company's spring productions of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap and Romeo and Juliet, onstage at the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare.