Composition Competition
The Holyoke Civic Symphony, a college/community orchestra in Holyoke, Massachusetts, announces its 10th biennial composition competition. The winning composition will be performed by the orchestra on Sunday, May 3, 2026, and the composer will receive a prize of $500 and an archive recording. There is no entry fee, and the competition is open to United States based composers of any age.
Entries should be no longer than 8 minutes and should be at a difficulty level appropriate for a community orchestra. Minimum duration is 5 minutes.
Maximum instrumentation is 3 flutes (1 may double on piccolo), 2 oboes (1 may double on English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, 1 timpani, 2 percussion, and strings. Works that exceed the maximum instrumentation (such as bass clarinet, contrabassoon, piano, or harp) will not be considered. Minimum instrumentation is strings only.
The deadline for submissions is July 31, 2025. Electronic submission only; only one composition per composer. Please email a PDF of the full score, an MP3 recording if available (electronic demos are fine), and a résumé or curriculum vitae to
The Holyoke Civic Symphony was founded in 1966 and is proud to support accessible works by living composers. The orchestra has been conducted by conductor and composer David Kidwell since 1997.
David Vess Wins 2025 Composition Competition
The Holyoke Civic Symphony has announced the winner of its 10th Biennial Composition Competition. “Soaring Over the White Mountains” by David Vess of Glendale, IL, will be performed by the orchestra at its season finale concert on Sunday, May 3, 2026. Voss holds a master’s degree in composition from Stony Brook University and was a finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award.
David Kidwell, the orchestra’s Music Director for the past 28 seasons, noted that there were 153 entries for this year’s competition, a fivefold increase over previous competitions. Kidwell said, “It was inspiring to see the variety of orchestral music being composed by so many different composers.”
The runner-up is Sunny Knable of Forest Hills, NY, for his “I Hear America Singing.” Knable is an Assistant Professor of Music at Central Connecticut State University and Music Director at The Church-in-the-Gardens.
The Holyoke Civic Symphony is a college-community orchestra founded in 1966. One of its missions is to perform and promote works by living composers. Maestro Kidwell notes, “I like to remind everyone that even Beethoven and Mozart started as struggling composers in search of performances and financial support.”
Allen Molineux Wins 2024 Composition Competition
Allen Molineux (b.1950) has been composing since his high school days. He went on from there to earn three degrees all in music composition. He made his living for 38 years by teaching full time at several small colleges in the Southeast. Since retirement, he has devoted more time to composing.
To date he has 28 works published (none self-published) and 8 of them have been professionally recorded with 2 more due to be released this year. His orchestral pieces have been performed by the Tampa Bay Symphony, the Oklahoma Composers Orchestra, the Friends University Community Orchestra, the Atlanta Philharmonic, the Kutztown University Orchestra and the Panama City Symphony.
David Browne Wins 2018 Composition Competition
The Holyoke Civic Symphony is pleased to announce that it has chosen composer David Browne as the winner of its 2018 Composition Competition. Browne, a student at Florida Atlantic University, was selected for his “Shattered Clock Fanfare.” The orchestra will perform the work at its concert on May 5, 2019, and will interview the composer via Skype.
David Browne was a member of the the Florida Singing Sons Boychoir and is currently in his final semester at Florida Atlantic University. He hopes to continue working toward his masters degree in composition. “Shattered Clock Fanfare” was also the winner of the Florida Orchestra’s 50th Annual Student Fanfare Competition in 2017.
David Kidwell, conductor of the Holyoke Civic Symphony, reported that this year’s competition had over thirty entries. “David’s piece immediately grabbed my attention, and I was tremendously impressed with his skillful handling of the orchestra,” said Kidwell.
The 60-member college-community orchestra was founded in 1966 and has been conducted by Kidwell since 1998. The orchestra has a long history of supporting music by living composers.
Dominic Dousa Wins 2014 Composition Competition
The Holyoke Civic Symphony has selected Dominic Dousa as the winner of its 2014 Composition Competition. Dousa, an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, won for his 2010 orchestral work New Era Overture.
David Kidwell, conductor of the Western Massachusetts-based orchestra, said that there were 140 entries for this year’s competition. “I was thrilled with the response,” he said. “It’s inspiring to see how many excellent composers are out there.”
Other finalists were Nancy Bloomer Deussen of California, Mark Kilstofte of South Carolina, Mark Dal Porto of New Mexico, and Gene Pritsker of New York.
Dousa’s winning composition was written for Dr. Lowell Graham, conductor and chair of the music department at UTEP, in honor of Graham’s first concert with the UTEP Symphony Orchestra. The composer notes that “while the piece was written for a specific occasion, it is intended to convey the general spirit of celebration, optimism, reflection, and anticipation that comes with any new era.”
Kidwell has been conductor of the Holyoke Civic Symphony since 1997 and has been a strong advocate of accessible contemporary music. Each concert includes at least one piece written by a living composer, which is a level of commitment that few orchestras attain.
Dousa’s winning piece will be performed by the Holyoke Civic Symphony on Sunday, May 4 as a part of the final concert of its current season.