COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
2024
YOUNG PERCUSSION
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ASSOCIATED BOARD OF THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC
Sponsors and prizes TBC
RULES & ELIGIBILITY
The Young Percussion Composer of the Year Competition is FREE to enter and the competitor must be aged 18 or younger. You have the option to compose an original work for Percussion Quartet or Drumline. You are allowed to submit a composition for each if you wish!
The original composition must have been written in 2024 and must not have been submitted for any other competitions. Compositions being used for qualifcations/exams such as GCSEs and A Levels are welcome. Below is the schedule for the 2024 competition so that you can plan ahead and deliver on time!
DATES & DEADLINES
REGISTRATION
8th December 2024 -
1st January 2025
DELIVERY DEADLINE (SUBMISSION)
31st January 2025
AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
February 2025
Each competitor must deliver a file including: PDF of the score and audio file of the work by the deadline stated above to the email address: director@percworks.co.uk through one of the following file transfer softwares: WeTransfer, Dropbox or Googledrive. The file should be named using the following format: PercWorks-Name-Catagory, for example: PercWorks-Joe Bloggs-Percussion Quartet.
AGE CATEGORIES
-Age as of 1st September 2024 -
CAT A Age 16-18
CAT B Age 14-16
CAT C Age 14 & Under
COMPOSITION SHORT COURSE
All entrants are invited to attend our FREE Online Composition Short Course in January. Date TBC
PRIZES
PRIZES TO BE ANNOUNCED on the Composition Short Course
THE BRIEF
To compose an original work for either percussion quartet or Drumline which is between 3-5 minutes long. You are allowed to submit a composition for each if you wish! Below is a list of instrumentation for both ensembles. You are limited to writing for the instruments below! Percussion Quartet - please note, you do not need to write for all the instruments listed.
PERCUSSION QUARTET
TUNED PERCUSSION
5 Oct Marimba, 4.3 Oct Marimba, Vibraphone, Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Crotales, Tubular Bells
UNTUNED PERCUSSION
Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Concert Toms, Bongos, Congas, Woodblocks, Bells, Tambourine, Triangle, Cymbals, Castanets, Darbuka, Djembe, Cajon.
DRUMLINE
Marching Snare Drum (2 parts max)
Marching Bass Drum (2 parts max)
Quads - Tenor Drums (1 part max)
Marching Cymbals (2 parts max)
ENCOURAGED
Traditional Grip (Snare Drum)
Stick Tricks
Visualisations
HEAD ADJUDICATOR
DANI HOWARD
Dani Howard is a British composer and orchestrator who is quickly gaining international recognition with regular performances across Europe, the US and Asia. Winner of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for her Trombone Concerto, Howard has had works commissioned and performed by over forty orchestras worldwide, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and five BBC orchestras.
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Howard’s Trombone Concerto was premiered in 2021 by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and soloist Peter Moore. Dubbed “an instant classic… lush… riveting…” (Richard Morrison, The Times), the work
received a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the Large-Scale Composition category. The concerto was nominated in the Classical Music category at the 2022 South Bank Sky Arts Awards, where Howard was also nominated for The Times Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award. The concerto has since received performances with London Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and Gävle Symfoniorkester among others; the US premiere will take place in May 2024 with Peter Moore, The Orchestra NOW and conductor Chloé van Soeterstède.
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In the 2022/23 season, Howard took up the post of Composer-in-Residence with London Chamber Orchestra, while other 2022/23 commissions include Add Oil for solo cello, commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music for its 200 Pieces bicentenary project, and The Butterfly Effect, commissioned for City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s centenary celebrations. The work received its world premiere on 14 June 2023 as part of the orchestra’s season finale concert conducted by Kazuki Yamada. August 2023 saw the world premiere of Howard’s chamber opera The Yellow Wallpaper at Copenhagen Opera Festival, with its UK premiere taking place the following month at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre. The production was Howard’s second collaboration with commissioners The Opera Story.
The 2023/24 season brings commissions from National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Grimethorpe Colliery Band, as well as saxophonist Jonathan Radford and guitarist Jack Hancher. As part of her ongoing residency with London Chamber Orchestra, Howard has been commissioned to write a Saxophone Concerto for Jess Gillam, premiering in spring 2024. Additionally, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and soloist Dame Evelyn Glennie will premiere Howard’s new Percussion Concerto on 18 April 2024 at BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff.
YPCOTY WINNERS 2023
CATEGORY A
FIRST PRIZE ELLIOT WIGHAM
CATEGORY B
FIRST PRIZE PETA HAYES
CATEGORY C
FIRST PRIZE NURI KENES
YPCOTY WINNERS 2022
CATEGORY A
FIRST PRIZE AIDAN RAMIREZ
CATEGORY B
FIRST PRIZE DANIEL JURADO-HOSHINO
CATEGORY C
FIRST PRIZE ILAY KENES
YPCOTY WINNER 2021
Lewis lives in Essex and is a percussionist, drummer and jazz pianist, along with a composer and producer of original music. He attended the Purcell School and Saffron Centre for Young Musicians and will attend the Royal College of Music from September 2021. He was a finalist in BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2020 and winner of the PercWorks Young Percussion Composer of the Year in 2021. He has been twice a national finalist in the Young Drummer of the Year Competition in 2019 and 2020 and national finalist in Yamaha #FUTUREBEAT in 2018. He was also runner-up in the International Percussion Youth Competition in Belgium in 2017. Lewis has wide musical interests spanning classical, jazz, Latin and world music and is developing a varied professional music career as a performer and composer/producer.
For Percussion Ensemble
southernpercussion.com
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