Every year, the American Composers Forum has a contest for a new Christmas carol to be written. In April, they announce the instrumentation and prizes include $1000 and a performance to be recorded for national broadcast. Visit American Composers Forum for submission requirements and more information.
The 2009 call is for carols for SATB choir with viola accompaniment.
Since 1998 two composers have been selected annually as the winners of the Welcome Christmas Carol Contest, co-sponsored by the Forum and Philip Brunelle’s Minneapolis-based VocalEssence ensemble. Each year the contest seeks new carols for chorus with a variety of instrumental accompaniment. The winners each receive $1000 prize and a performance, which is recorded by Minnesota Public Radio for future national broadcast. “Imagine what it was like when ‘Deck the Halls’ was first heard! Or the magical evening in the Austrian Alps when ‘Silent Night’ was first sung,” says Philip Brunelle, artistic director of VocalEssence. “The carol competition was begun with the same idea because carols are a living, breathing part of our holiday experience. Every year we look for that unique carol that will touch everyone and make us happy to be celebrating another Christmas season.”Over the past eleven years, this annual contest has showcased 22 new carol settings.
The new carols are premiered at the VocalEssence Welcome Christmas concerts at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis each December. These concerts have been recorded for regional broadcast on the network stations of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), and distributed nationally by American Public Media.
