Funded by the Thomas V. Siwe Endowment

Purpose:

To encourage and reward composers who write music for percussion instruments and to increase the number of quality compositions written for percussion.

2024 PAS Composition Contest

Eligibility:

• Only works finished after January 2020 are eligible.
• Works may have been performed previously, but should not be published (self-published works are fine), and works may not have been written as part of a commission or consortium where monetary compensation was provided to create the work.

Awards:

• $3,000 grand prize (up to two honorable mentions – $250.00 each). Additional pieces may be acknowledged by the judges due to their quality. These pieces will not receive financial awards.
• Winning composition, Honorable mention(s), and additional pieces selected by the judges will be listed on the PAS website with the composer’s picture and bio.
• Winning composition and Honorable mention(s) will be listed along with a review of work(s) in Percussive Notes during early 2025.

Category:

Drumset + ________

Instrumentation:

1. One performer playing drumset consisting of: kick drum, 1-2 snare drums, 2-4 toms (at least 1 rack tom and 1 floor tom must be included), crash cymbal, ride cymbal, hi-hats. Composers may include additional implements, and additional cymbals. Composers may not add additional instruments (cowbell, ribbon crasher, etc.). The drumset may be “prepared” if desired. While the drumset part does not explicitly need to be a solo part, it should be a featured and significant voice within the ensemble.
2. Any number of additional performers, on any acoustic instruments.
   • Electronics may be incorporated in any of the parts.

Duration:

• Minimum of 4-minutes
• For works over 12 minutes, composers should submit one or more excerpts totaling 12 minutes or less.

Notation:

The drumset part must be notated; groove or quasi-improvised sections (slash notation, style indications, etc.) may be used but should not constitute a majority of the piece.

Examples of works that fit the criteria:

• drumset quartet
• drumset with piano
• drumset with percussion ensemble
• drumset with trumpet and trombone
• drumset with two additional performers utilizing open instrumentation.

Examples of works that do NOT fit the criteria:

• solo drumset
• drumset and fixed media
• works where the drumset serves as the groove for most of the piece (steel band, big band, etc.)

Procedures:

Submit the following items through the online application:

• A PDF file of the composition absent of any composer information. Label file with title of work.
• An audio file of a computer realization or other recording (non-performance) of the composition absent of any composer or performer information. Label file with title of work.

PLEASE NOTE:

• All complete applications will be evaluated by a panel of judges. Contest results will be announced in December 2024.
• All entry materials become property of PAS. PAS does not claim rights to distribute materials. Materials will be archived for historical purposes only. Composers retain all rights to their composition.
• Multiple submissions are allowed, but a separate application and $20 entry fee is required for each entry.