American Choral Directors Association

The mission of ACDA is to inspire excellence and nurture lifelong involvement in choral music for everyone through education, performance, composition and advocacy.

You are here: Home / About ACDA / ACDA Awards & Competitions / ACDA’s Brock Prize for Professional Composers

ACDA’s Brock Prize for Professional Composers

Submission period has closed and will reopen in early 2026

About the Competition

The ACDA Brock Prize for Professional Composers emerges as a natural extension of the American Choral Directors Association’s esteemed Raymond Brock Commission, established to honor the legacy of Raymond W. Brock, who served as ACDA’s administrative assistant from 1987 until his passing in 1991. The objectives of this competition for professional composers are threefold:

  1. To recognize and commend exceptional composers at various stages of their careers.
  2. To foster the creation of choral compositions of the highest artistic merit.
  3. To actively promote composer involvement and participation at ACDA conferences.

The recipient of this prestigious award will receive a $5,000 cash prize, complimentary registration for the conference, a complimentary table at the conference’s composers’ fair, and the distinguished opportunity to have their winning composition performed on the main stage by a choral ensemble selected by the conference committee.

Eligibility:

  • Applicants must be an Active, Retired, or Life member of ACDA.
    • Need to find your membership type or number? Log in to your membership account at www.acda.org.
    • To learn more about ACDA membership categories and join, click here.
  • There is no age limit for applicants, however, composers must not be current students (undergraduate or graduate) at the time of the conference performance, which will be in March 2025 in Dallas, TX), and may not have received a prior Brock Prize or the Brock Commission. 
  • Submitted works must not be published, self-published, or publicly marketed but may have been previously performed or premiered. 
  • Applicants may submit one work per competition year. 
  • The submitted work may be for any voicing or difficulty level, and may be a cappella or accompanied with keyboard and/or other instruments. Due to conference performance constraints, works 3-6 minutes in length will receive priority consideration, and works with full orchestra or similar forces will likely not be viable.
  • All entries must be completely unidentifiable. Delete composer name and any dedication statement from the submitted score.
  • Filenames of PDF and mp3 should contain ONLY the work title, i.e. “TITLE.pdf” and MP3 may be a recording or a digital rendition.
  • Applications are due by 11:59 PM Central Time on August 1, 2024. Submit well in advance of the deadline. Late submissions will not be considered for any reason, including technical support issues.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Provide a score in PDF form that has the all identifying information removed from the document. You will need to upload this file in your application.
    • Label the file [Title of Work].pdf
    • Composers name must not be present on any part of the file submission
  • Provide an MP3 performance recording or a MP3 MIDI file of the piece. You will need to upload this file with your application.
    • Label the MP3 [Title of Work].mp3
    • Composers name must NOT be present on any part of the file submission
  • Submit a completed application.
  • All submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Aug. 1, 2024. Late submissions will not be considered for any reason. Please consider the deadline when preparing your submission to ensure you have time to address any technical support questions or issues that may arise.

For questions or technical support, please email Dr. Brandon A. Boyd at gro.a1753000433dca@k1753000433corb1753000433.

Competition Winners

2024 – Lakbay ng Agila (Eagle’s Flight) by Saunder Choi
Will premiere at the 2025 ACDA National Conference in Dallas, TX
March 18-22, 2025
Announcement of the 2024 Award Winner

2022 – I Will Go by Jeffrey Derus
Premiered at the 2023 ACDA National Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio
Performed by the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers

2020 – I Am the Wind by Elaine Hagenberg
Premiered at the 2021 ACDA National Conference.
Announcement of 2020 Award Winner

2018 – In the Middle by Dale Trumbore
     Performed by the Aeolians of Oakwood University at the 2019 ACDA National Conference.
Announcement of 2018 Award Winner