Junior High School Categories

Commercial/Popular Music

  • EDM (Electronic Dance Music) - music composed using electronic techniques in a house, techno or similar style

  • Rap/Hip Hop - original lyrics, sung or rapped over original beats or sampled audio

  • Remix – an original remix using the stems available at www.ilmea.org/remix

Experimental/Twentieth Century

  • Avant Garde – experimental, modern, abstract sonic gestures or music composed using non-traditional and electronic means and techniques

Traditional Composition

  • Arranging – an original arrangement based upon pre-existing materials

  • Instrumental/Vocal Solo – music written for solo instrument/voice, accompanied or unaccompanied

  • Instrumental Small Ensemble - music written for small ensemble with one instrument on each part

  • Keyboard Solo – composition for solo keyboard (piano, organ, synthesizer)

Senior High School Categories

Commercial/Popular Music

  • EDM (Electronic Dance Music) - music composed using electronic techniques in a house, techno or similar style

  • Instrumental - jingles, theme songs, video game music, cinematic soundtracks

  • Rock Band - original composition using traditional rock and popular instruments

  • Rap/Hip Hop - original lyrics, sung or rapped over original beats or sampled audio

  • Remix – an original remix using the stems available at www.ilmea.org/remix

  • Singer-Songwriter - solo vocal work in a popular music style, accompanied or unaccompanied

Experimental/Twentieth Century

  • Avant Garde – experimental, modern, abstract sonic gestures or music composed using non-traditional and electronic means and techniques

Traditional Composition

  • Arranging – an original arrangement based upon pre-existing materials

  • Instrumental Solo – music written for solo instrument

  • Instrumental Small Ensemble - music written for small ensemble with one instrument on each part

  • Instrumental Large Ensemble – music written for band or orchestra, including concertos

  • Jazz Instrumental/Jazz Vocal – original jazz compositions for instrumentalists or vocalists

  • Jazz Improvisation – solo improvisation which may be backed by rhythm section

  • Keyboard Solo – composition for solo keyboard (piano, organ, synthesizer)

  • Vocal Solo – solo vocal work in the classical Art Song tradition, accompanied or unaccompanied

  • Vocal Ensemble – composition for a group of voices, accompanied or unaccompanied 

CONTEST CATEGORIES

CONTEST GUIDELINES

Contest Entry Rules and Procedures

  1. Any 6th–8th grade student may enter the junior level contest and any 9th–12th grade student (up to one contest post-graduation) is eligible to enter the senior level contest. The submission must be composed in the calendar year leading up to the contest entry.

  2. Each student may enter only one composition in each category, but students may enter as many categories as they desire.

  3. Entries are completed electronically via the online nomination portal. A separate entry form will be completed for each composition. The entry fee is $15 per composition. The Composition Contest entry fee(s) will appear on the educator login dashboard along with the other ILMEA fees for the school.

  4. All entries must be submitted on or before October 15 annually. Electronic submission will be closed after that time.

  5. All remixes must be under five minutes in length and utilize some portion of the audio supplied by ILMEA at www.ilmea.org/remix. Due to copyright restrictions, remixes can only use the provided audio samples and original sounds created by the composer. By entering the contest, the student and their sponsoring teacher understand that the audio samples can only be used for the ILMEA Composition Contest and cannot be used for any other reason. Failure to comply with these regulations would put you in violation of copyright. For all information related to the remix category, visit the website linked above.

  6. Samples are acceptable for use in Rap/Hip-Hop with respect to the tradition of the Hip-Hop artform. Please be aware that any works containing samples that are not in Public Domain or used without permission are eligible in the competition and may be selected for performance at IMEC. However, ILMEA will not be able to record works with copyrighted material and cannot publish them through ILMEA due to copyright regulations.

  7. ILMEA reserves the right to use student compositions for publicity and/or display of exemplary work. This use may include an audio file of the composition included on an official ILMEA compilation recording and the posting of an audio file of the composition on the ILMEA website for a period of one year.

  8. Winners will be notified in early December (based on timing of results generated by the adjudication panel).

  9. The JSGM Division President has the authority to disqualify any compositions that do not comply with the contest rules. 

Submission Guidelines

  1. All entry-related materials (scores, file names, etc) should be identified ONLY with the title of the piece and the student’s last name. (ex: Clarinet Concerto #1 - Smith.pdf)

  2. The following materials are required for submission: 

    • Commercial/Popular Music & Experimental:

    • Audio Recording (WAV - preferred, Mp3, AIFF). Songs should use real voices. Computer generated sounds and samples are allowed as appropriate for the genre or style.

    • Rock Band & Singer/Songwriter, please include a lyric/chord sheet in lieu of a score.

  3. Traditional Composition: 

    • Full Score in PDF Format (except Jazz Improvisation). All Measures should be numbered.

    • Audio Recording (WAV - preferred, Mp3, AIFF). Whenever possible composition should be performed using real voices/instruments rather than computer-generated sounds.

  4. All files (audio recording and score where applicable) should be contained in a Google Drive folder named with the composition title and student’s last name(to match the file naming conventions). To include the folder in the student’s submission, select the folder in Google Drive and click the “Share” button. In the box that opens, click “Get Shareable Link.” Click the link sharing menu and make sure “On - Anyone with link” is the selected share setting. Copy the provided link and paste into the appropriate box in the nomination form.

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