Application period closed (deadline: June 1, 2021).
About the Student Competition
To further its mission to promote choral music and ensure its future, ACDA established the Raymond W. Brock Memorial Student Composition Competition in 1998. The student competition is an outgrowth of the Raymond W. Brock Memorial Choral Commission. The objectives of the contest are three-fold:
- To acknowledge and reward outstanding high school, undergraduate, and graduate student composers
- To encourage choral composition of the highest caliber
- To further promote student activity at ACDA conferences
The composition contest winner will be awarded a prize worth $1,000 (including travel to the student’s regional conference, hotel accommodations, and a cash prize), a complimentary ACDA regional conference registration, and a complimentary one-year student membership if the student is not already a member of ACDA. The winning composer is expected to attend the winning work’s performance at his or her regional ACDA conference, and the prize money may go toward their travel expenses.
Students do not need to be members of ACDA to apply, but applicants must be registered students at schools in the United States or in a U.S. territory. Composers must be current students (high school, undergraduate, or graduate) at the time of the conference performance. Submitted works must not be published, but may have been previously performed or premiered. (Works published through self-publishing platforms will be accepted.) Composers may submit one work per competition year.
Works may be for mixed voice, treble, or tenor/bass choir and should include limited divisi. Works submitted should be broadly accessible to the majority of choirs who make up the membership of ACDA. Works may be unaccompanied or accompanied by piano, and may not include any additional instruments. Unaccompanied works must include a piano reduction. Due to performance time constraints, works between three and six minutes in length will receive priority consideration.
2021 Submission Guidelines
The application is an online submission. Please click through to the form using the link below. In addition to submitting information about yourself and your composition, you will need to upload a copy of your score, a copy of the text (with permission from the copyright holder, if applicable), and a translation of the text (if not in English).
Brock Student Composition Competition Past Winners
2021
The Rose That Bare Jesu, by Duncan Tuomi, University of Southern California
2019
Shall I Compare Thee? by Kara Stacy, Florida Southern College
2017
Peace Flows Into Me by Matthew Hazzard, California State University – Long Beach
2016
I Am by Kelsey Hohnstein, Texas Tech University
Performed during the 2017 ACDA National Conference
by the Riverside City College Chamber Singers
2015
Forgiven Tears by Alex Berko, Indiana University
Performed during the 2016 ACDA Central Division Conference by Indiana University NOTUS
2014
Spells of Herrick by Andrew Steffen, Oklahoma State University
Performed during the 2015 ACDA National Conference by the Utah State University Chamber Singers
2013
Unto Young Eternity by Matthew Emery, University of British Columbia
Performed during the 2014 ACDA Northwestern Division Conference by the University of Puget Sound Adelphian Choir
2012
Redemption Mass by Julian Bryson, University of Kentucky
Performed at the 2013 ACDA National Conference by the University of Louisville Cardinal Singers
2011
Two Prayers for Sabbath Evening: II. Oseh Shalom by Joshua Fishbein, University of California – Los Angeles
Performed at the 2012 Western Division Conference by the CSU Fullerton University Singers
2010
Crossing the Bar by Michael Mills, University of Utah
Performed at the 2011 National Conference by Millikin University
2009
Psalm 100 by Derek Myler, Weber State University
Performed at the 2010 Western Division Conference by the University of Utah Singers
2008
Absalon, Fili Mi by Benjamin May, Westminster Choir College
Performed at the 2009 National Conference
2007
In Monte Oliveti by Kristen Walker, William Jewell College
Performed at the 2008 Southwestern Division Conference by the University of Kansas Concert Choir
2006
The Souls Passing by Dominick DiOrio, Yale University
Performed at the 2007 National Conference by the Florida State University Singers
2005
Selah by Dan Forrest, University of Kansas
Performed at the 2006 Southwestern Division Conference by the Houston Baptist University Schola Cantorum
2004
Kyrie by Kentaro Sato, California State University-Northridge
Performed at the 2005 National Conference by the California State University Northridge Singers
2003
Lux Aeterna by Brian Schmidt, South Dakota State University
Performed at the 2004 North Central Division Conference by the Luther College Collegiate Chorale
2002
Musica Anima Tangens by Joshua Shank, Luther College
Performed at the 2003 National Conference by the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants
2001
Choric Song by Michael Conti, Michigan State University
Performed at the 2002 Central Division Conference by the Millikin University Choir
2000
Stabat Mater by Aaron Garber, University of Tennessee
Performed at the 2001 National Conference by the East Texas Baptist University Concert Choir
1999
Nunc Dimittis by Daniel Pinkston, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Performed at the 2000 Southwestern Division Conference by the Ouachita Baptist University Singers
1998
Flanders Field by Paul A. Aitken, University of Oklahoma
Performed at the 1999 National Conference by the University of Mississippi Concert Singers
