Competition encourages young composers

BLUE HILL - The Bagaduce Music Lending Library in Blue Hill announces its 15th Annual Young Composers’ Competition & Festival, open to all Maine students in High School or below. Launched in 1996, this competition encourages students to create new works, develop their composing and notation skills, and get valuable feedback from professional musicians. For six young musicians, it’s a chance to win some extra spending money, too.

Young Maine musicians are invited to submit their new works by February 16, 2011 for review by a jury of professional musicians. This year’s judges are Beth Wiemann, composer and professor of music at the University of Maine at Orono; Fred Goldrich, conductor of The Bangor Band and John Cooper, Professor of Music and Composer in Residence at the College of the Atlantic. Cash awards and recognition will be presented in two categories: Category I – through age 13; Category II – age 14 through high school. All participants will be recognized and invited to perform at the Young Composers’ Festival in Blue Hill on Saturday, April 30, 2011. Some financial support is provided by Union Trust, a division of Camden National Bank.

All submissions will become part of the Music Library’s esteemed Maine Collection. This important archive contains over 2,750 works, including pieces by R.B. Hall, Frank Churchill ("Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf"), Werner Torkanowsky, Walter Piston and Noel Paul Stookey.

For complete information and entry forms, young composers should contact the Music Library at 374-5454 or festival@bagaducemusic.org, or visit the website at www.bagaducemusic.org.

The Bagaduce Music Lending Library, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation, was formed in 1983 to provide unencumbered music-library access to performers and music lovers nationwide, regardless of affiliation. The Music Library now has over one million pieces of catalogued music, representing 215,000+ scores and sheet-music titles, and relies on donations of volunteer time, music and financial support to ensure continued operation and growth. Along with the Young Composers’ Competition & Festival, the Music Library is host to the Blue Hill Pops Concert on July 3 each year, a summer-season tradition in Downeast Maine.

For further information, please contact Sean Schmeits, Executive Director, Bagaduce Music Lending Library, 5 Music Library Lane, Blue Hill, ME 04614; 374-5454 or sean@bagaducemusic.org.