Composition Competition

Congratulations to Joshua Hummel, the winner of the 2011 grand prize. His composition, Haiku Symphony No. 2, will be performed on March 23, 2013.

Composer's Biography

(from his webpage)

Born in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, Josh began his musical training at the age of six.  He earned a BMus in piano and a MA in Dramatic Production from Bob Jones University and MMus in Composition from the Hartt School of Music.

Josh has been the recipient of a number of composition awards most notably the Frederick Fennell Prize and the Leonard Bernstein Award. Joshs choral work, Later, a setting of the Wassily Kandinsky poem recently won the Cantate Chamber Singers Young Composers Competition. His choral work, Novum Decus Oritur, won First Prize in a Cambridge, MA, choral competition; and though poppies grow, recntely won Second Prize in a London-based choral competition sponsored by Recital Music. 

His wind ensemble music has been performed throughout the country by some of the nations top college bands including The University of California at Long Beach, The University of Texas at Austin and the Yale Concert Band. In February 2011 the Yale Concert Band premiered his award-winning composition, Haiku Symphony No. 4, in Woolsey Hall and Carnegie Hall. And this summer he won First Prize in the Austin Civic Orchestra 2012 Composition Competition with his orchestra piece, Haiku Symphony No. 2.

He has received private composition instruction from composers Michael Hersch, Richard Danielpour, Robert Beaser, soprano, Patrice Michaels, and participated in Master Classes with pianist, Matthew McCright, and composer, Chen Yi. And during the summer of 2011 he studied at La Schola Cantorum in Paris with composers Philip Lasser, David Conte and Mark Shapiro.

Josh is the composer for Colors in Motion, an arts collective in Cambridge, MA, and owns Sinensis Music, a composition studio in Hartford, CT.

From the score of the composition:


A Maple leaf sails,
gently carried aloft by
October's breathing
Josh Hummel, October 2009

Composer's Program Note
I composed Haiku Symphony No. 2 during October 2009 during an absolutely beautiful and vibrant New England autumn.  My composition studio is on the 11th floor of a high rise condo building overlooking the hills of northern Connecticut, and single red and yellow leaves would often find their way past my window, just riding on the blustery October breeze.  Haiku Symphony No.2 chronicles the journey of a single maple lead sailing on the autumn New England wind.

The "Haiku Symphonies" are a series of pieces of varying instrumentation, each focused on a single piece of haiku poetry.  Taking the haiku as its model, a "Haiku Symphony"  is a concise, compact work that economically develops a single theme, motive, gesture, etc. but retains a measure of formal and crafted depth worthy of a short symphony.
-Josh Hummel, October 2009




The ACO believes in the cultivation of new music and giving up-and-coming composers the opportunity to have their music performed. Every two years, composers from around the world submit their compositions for the opportunity to have their piece performed by the ACO in one of their regular concerts and the cash prize of $1,000.

The deadline for the next competition is August 1, 2013. Please see the instructions below.


Rules of Entry


  • To enter the ACO Composition Competition, composers should submit a full, legible score and a MP3 recording by August 1, 2013 to:

    Dr. Lois Ferrari
    Southwestern University
    Sarofim School of Fine Arts
    1001 E. University Avenue
    Georgetown, TX 78626
    USA
  • A recording of a live performance is preferred. A digital rendering will be accepted.
  • Only one entry per composer.
  • Submissions do not need to be premieres. Compositions that have been previously performed are permitted.
  • Compositions should be written for standard full orchestra with the following appoximate instrumentation:

    45 strings - 20 violins, 10 violas, 10 cellos, 5 double basses
    Full winds and percussion*
    Harp
    Piano/keyboard
    * Possible extras: English horn, bass clarinet, saxophone
  • No chamber works, concerti, or pieces that contain narrator, electronic, vocal, or multi-media parts.
  • Submissions should be approximately 10-12 minutes in length and require no more than four or five hours of preparation for performance.
  • Entry fee of $50.00 USD must be included with the submission.  Checks should be made out to "Austin Civic Orchestra."