CYM logo
 
 
East Anglian
Young Composer of the Year
 
manuscript

Young Musician
of the Year
2010
2008
2006

Young Composer
of the Year
2019
2018
2017/18
2015/16
2014/15

2013/14
2012/13
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006

 
   


East Anglian Young Composer Competition 2020

This competition has now been judged. View results.

Cambridge Youth Music's annual composing competition aims to help all those taking part to gain skills and inspiration to compose music. Every piece entered will be played and workshopped by professional musicians at the Finals Workshops, with individual feedback and advice given by the players and composer Ewan Campbell.

This year participants have been invited to write a piece of music up to five minutes long for violin and piano.

Entrants must be 18 years or under on 31 August 2020 and live or attend school in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Norfolk or Suffolk. Compositions can, if you wish, be inspired by the theme of Isolation. They must be written for both of the instruments above. Please note - to enable us to perform your piece at the Finals, you should use only one of each instrument listed.

Compositions will be considered in three age groups (12 and under, 13-15 years and 16-18 years). There will be a class winner and commendations in each age group, together with an overall winner – the East Anglian Young Composer of the Year. The winner will be invited to compose a piece to be performed as part of next year's competition.

Information and guidance
Download guidance notes on Writing for violin and piano together with some examples of pieces composed for this combination.

Have a question?
If you have a question – for example whether something you want to write is playable on the instrument concerned – please email your query to clare.gilmour2@gmail.com and we will do our best to provide an answer.

Finals Workshops
All the pieces entered will be played and workshopped by violinist Phillip Granell and pianist Matthew Drinkwater of the Phaedra Ensemble at the Finals Workshops, with individual feedback and advice given by both the players and Ewan Campbell. Everyone will also receive written feedback from Ewan. All those taking part will have the chance to hear everyone's pieces played and discussed – a great opportunity to learn from others.

The workshops will be held over two consecutive weekends on the afternoons of Sunday 6th and 13th December 2020. Due to the restrictions imposed by Covid 19, the workshops will be held online via Zoom. Composers will be able to hear the compositions played from their homes, receive live feedback from the players and composer Ewan Campbell, and ask questions if they wish.

The winners and commended compositions will be performed at a public concert on Friday 9 July 2021. It will also include a specially commissioned piece written by last year’s joint winners Henry Alexander and Olivia Ransome.


 

 

 

 

 

Competition flyer

Deadline for entries

30 October 2020

Rules and entry forms

Download competition details, rules and entry form as a
PDF file
Word file

Finals Workshops

Sunday 6 and 13 December 2020

Young Composers'Concert

Date to be confirmed