The Student Composer Awards were established in 1951 to encourage young composers in the creation of serious music, and through cash prizes, to aid in continuing their musical education. Celebrated composer Milton Babbitt serves as the Awards Chairman. Composer luminaries such as William Bolcom, George Crumb, Mario Davidovsky, John Harbison, Aaron Jay Kernis, Donald Martino, Steven Mackey, Philip Glass, Christopher Rouse, Joseph Schwantner, Michael Torke and Charles Wuorinen received their earliest recognition through this program.

There are no limitations as to instrumentation, style or length of work submitted. The prizes, which range from $500 to $5,000, are awarded at the discretion of the final judging panel and compositions are judged completely under pseudonyms. Official rules and entry forms are available here.

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance, and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, over 95% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.

Read bios of the Student Composer Award winners

2007 BMI Student Composer Award winners (l-r): Clint Needham, Eric Guinivan, Nathan Shields, Gabrielle Nina Haigh, Matthew Peterson, Roger Zare, Shawn Jaeger, Aaron Holloway-Nahum, Sebastian Chang, Bryan Christian, and Otto Muller

The 2007 awards were presented to Sebastian Chang (age 19, studies at the Curtis Institute of Music); Bryan Christian (age 22, studies at Indiana University); Eric Guinivan (age 23, studies at the University of Southern California); Gabrielle Nina Haigh (age 15, studies at the Laurel School in Shaker Heights, Ohio); Aaron Holloway-Nahum (age 24, studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London); Shawn Jaeger (age 22, studies at the University of Michigan); Otto Muller (age 25, studies at the University of Buffalo (SUNY); Clint Needham (age 25, studies at Indiana University); Matthew Peterson (age 22, studies at Indiana University); Nathan Shields (age 23, studies at the Juilliard School), and Roger Zare (age 21, studies at the University of Southern California).

Milton Babbitt, Carlos Surinach Prize Winner Gabrielle Nina Haigh, BMI’s Del Bryant and Ralph Jackson

The BMI Student Composer Awards recognize superior creative talent and winners receive scholarship grants to be applied toward their musical education. In 2007, more than 400 manuscripts were submitted to the competition from throughout the Western Hemisphere, and all works were judged under pseudonyms. Cash awards totaled $20,000. Clint Needham was the named the winner of the William Schuman Prize, which is awarded to the score judged "most outstanding" in the competition. This special prize is given each year in memory of the late William Schuman, who served for 40 years as chairman, then chairman emeritus, of the BMI Student Composer Awards. Additionally, the Carlos Surinach Prize, awarded to the youngest winner in the competition, went to Gabrielle Nina Haigh.

Preliminary Judges (l-r): Chester Biscardi, Bernadette Speach, David Leisner, Awards Chairman Milton Babbitt, and Final Judge Ellen Taaffe Zwilch

The 2007 Student Composer Awards jury members were Richard Danielpour, David Dzubay, Christopher Rouse, Gunther Schuller and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The preliminary judges were Chester Biscardi, David Leisner and Bernadette Speach.

BMI has given 514 scholarship grants to young composers over the years, and many of today's most prominent and active classical composers received their first recognition from the BMI Student Composer Awards. Eleven former winners have gone on to win the coveted Pulitzer Prize in Music. The BMI Student Composer Awards competition is co-sponsored by BMI and the BMI Foundation, Inc.

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance, and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, over 95% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.

BMI Foundation's Gary Roth, BMI LaGuardia High School Composer-in-Residence Jim Pugliese, Zavin Scholarship winner Patrick Monte, Thea's son Joshua Zavin and BMI Foundation's Ralph Jackson. Photo by Dana Rodriguez

The scholarship was established through the generosity of family and friends to honor the memory of Theodora (Thea) Zavin, Founding President of the BMI Foundation. In making the announcement, Jackson said, "Thea was legendary for her support of talented young musicians and always had a special place in her heart for the vibrant artistic environment at LaGuardia. I know that she would be so pleased to be remembered in this way."

2006 LaGuardia High School graduate Patrick Monte is a composer and performer on guitar, percussion and Mbira. He has studied composition with Jim Pugliese and Khabu Doug Young. Several of his compositions, ranging from jazz orchestra to small chamber ensemble to ska/rock band, have been performed at LaGuardia and at such New York venues as CBGB's, the Knitting Factory, ABC No Rio, the Continental and Arlene's Grocery. He plans to pursue his college studies at the City University of New York (CUNY).

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees, and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the advisory panel serve without compensation, over 95% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.]]> 2006-06-26T18:00:00+00:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/334824 Mario, Athens, Niccolo, Babbitt, Milton, Bancks, Jacob, Barton, Jacob A., Bryant, Del, Danyew, Stephen T., Davidovsky, Mario, Davis, Daniel Thomas, Galindo, Gilbert, MacDonald, David, Tacke, Daniel A., Trapani, Christopher, Tucker, Colin, Wyner, Yehudi, Classical, Foundation, BMI Student Composer Awards Milton Babbitt, Chairman of the Awards, and Ralph N. Jackson, President of the BMI Foundation, Inc. and Director of the Awards, joined in the presentations.

(Back row) Student Composer Award winners Gilbert Galindo, Jacob Bancks, Jacob A. Barton, Stephen T. Danyew, Niccolo Athens and Daniel Thomas Davis; (front row) BMI's Del Bryant, Student Composer Award winner Colin Tucker, Awards Chairman Milton Babbitt, Student Composer Award winner Christopher Trapani, BMI's Ralph Jackson, and Student Composer Award winners Daniel A. Tacke and David MacDonald.

The 2006 awards were presented to Niccolo Athens (age 17, studies privately with Timothy Kramer in San Antonio); Jacob Bancks (age 24, studies at the Eastman School of Music); Jacob A. Barton (age 21, studies at Rice University); Stephen T. Danyew (age 22, studies at University of Miami); Daniel Thomas Davis (age 25, studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London); Gilbert Galindo (age 24, studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music); David MacDonald (age 22, studies at the University of Missouri - Columbia); Daniel A. Tacke (age 21, studies at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music); Christopher Trapani (age 26, studies at École Nationale de Musique du Blanc-Mesnil in France); and Colin Tucker (age 21, studies at the University of Michigan).

Del Bryant with 2006 Pulitzer Prize winner Yehudi Wyner

The BMI Student Composer Awards recognize superior creative talent and winners receive scholarship grants to be applied toward their musical education. In 2006, more than 400 manuscripts were submitted to the competition from throughout the Western Hemisphere, and all works were judged under pseudonyms. Cash awards totaled $20,000. A special Carlos Surinach Prize, underwritten by the BMI Foundation's special endowed fund, was awarded to the youngest winner in the competition, Niccolo Athens.

Awards Chairman Milton Babbitt with preliminary judge David Leisner

The distinguished 2006 Student Composer Awards jury members were Michael Daugherty, Mario Davidovsky, Tobias Picker, Roger Reynolds and José Serebrier. The preliminary judges were Chester Biscardi, David Leisner and Bernadette Speach.

SCA winner Christopher Trapani, preliminary judge Chester Biscardi, SCA winner Daniel A Tacke and preliminary judge Bernadette Speech

BMI has given more than 500 scholarship grants to young composers over the years, and many of today's most prominent and active classical composers received their first recognition from the BMI Student Composer Awards. Eleven former winners have gone on to win the coveted Pulitzer Prize in Music. The BMI Student Composer Awards competition is co-sponsored by BMI and the BMI Foundation, Inc.

SCA winners David MacDonald and Niccolo Athens, Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and SCA winners Stephen Danyew and Jacob Bancks

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance, and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, over 95% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.

Robert Thompson, Schott-Helicon's Norman Ryan and SCA winner Daniel Thomas Davis

Charles Wuroinen, Awards Chairman Milton Babbitt, Yehudi Wyner, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and BMI's Del Bryant

photos by Gary Gershoff

Peermusic Scholarship winner Marco Godoy (center) is congratulated on stage by BMI's Del Bryant, peermusic's Kathy Spanberger, BMI's Diane Almodovar and Elizabeth Ann Peer, daughter of Ralph Peer II.

Godoy, whose instrumental "My Latin Feel" earned him the Foundation's inaugural peermusic Scholarship two years ago, won his first singing competition at the age of six, led his own rock/pop band at 13, and was hired to be the arranger and director of a 15-piece salsa band at the age of 16. With a dual major in Music Production & Engineering and Contemporary Music & Production, Godoy was also a finalist in the SGAE Premio de Jazz Latino, won first place in the Shure Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition, and has been honored by Berklee with its Achievement Scholarship and the Peter Kaleta Award for his contributions to the college's Contemporary Writing and Production department.

Peermusic Scholarship winner Marco Godoy shows off his award plaque to BMI Foundation President Ralph Jackson.

The BMI Foundation’s peermusic Latin Scholarship was established in 2003 through the generosity of music publishing titan Ralph Peer II and the peermusic companies for college students throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The judging panel included Sony/BMG’s Angel Carrasco, LARAS President Gabriel Abaroa, EMI’s Nestor E. Casanou, peermusic’s Julio Bague, Sirius Satellite Radio’s Elizabeth Rodriguez, El Especial’s Fernanda Garcia, Venevision Music’s Fidel Hernandez and Tu Casa Entertainment’s Maribel Schumacher.

Founded by Ralph S. Peer in 1928, peermusic is a global network of music publishing companies operating from 33 offices in 27 countries. With well over a quarter of a million titles in the company's catalogue, and songs that vary from country, blues, jazz and pop to Latin, concert and rock 'n' roll, peermusic is the largest privately owned company of its kind in the world.

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, over 95% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants. For more information: www.bmifoundation.org.

Photos by WireImage/Lester Cohen]]> 2006-04-20T18:00:00+00:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/334681 Jackson, Ralph, Bryant, Del, Guthrie, Woody, Foundation Woody Guthrie Archives (WGA) and Foundation, have announced the winners of the fist annual Woody Guthrie Fellowship. The program funds research fellowships for scholars to use the rich and extensive holdings available at the WGA in New York City.

BMI Foundation President Ralph Jackson, Woody Guthrie Fellowship winner Ed Shannon, WGA Executive Director Nora Guthrie and BMI President & CEO Del Bryant. photo by Gary Gershoff

The recipients are Mark Pedelty, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, whose project "Woody and the River: Examining the Relationship between Land and Labor in Woody Guthrie's Life and Art" provides a model of active research and pedagogy; Seth Archer, author of Reading the Riot Acts, an investigation by the young literature lecturer at Boston College into cultural and economic race relations in Oklahoma during Guthrie's early years, which examines the impact of the folk artist's racial and creative perspective; Literature Professor Ed Shannon of Ramapo College in New Jersey traces the origins and development of Guthrie's folk anthem in his project, "This Land is Your Land: The History of a Song"; and Moose Farrell, an artist who explores the magic and mythology of land, will create a series of paintings and "artist books" inspired by Guthrie's words for an exhibition entitled "In God's Country."

Established in 1972, the Woody Guthrie Foundation is a non-profit organization that serves as administrator and caretaker of the Woody Guthrie Archives. Dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of information about Woody Guthrie's vast cultural legacy, the WGA houses the largest collection of Woody Guthrie material in the world. Since it's opening in 1996, the Woody Guthrie Archives has been a major success and has become an important resource for the general public, musicians, singers, songwriters, scholars, and public and private cultural institutions wishing to access the research collection.

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, more than 97% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.]]> 2005-11-19T17:00:00+00:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234543 Jackson, Ralph, Lennon, John, Ono, Yoko, Price, Sydney, Pop, Foundation Sydney Price, first place winner of the 2005 John Lennon Scholarships, stopped by the BMI New York office to perform some of her new songs for BMI executives. The 17-year-old high school student from Dallas, Texas, who was presented with a check for $10,000 during the BMI Pop Awards ceremony held in May, also treated staff to a performance of her winning song "Moon Lullaby."

Gathered in the BMI New York office are BMI's Charlie Feldman, Sydney's brother Mark Price Jr., Sydney's father Mark Price Sr., BMI's Samantha Cox, Lennon Scholarship winner Sydney Price, BMI's Ralph Jackson (BMI Foundation President), J.W. Johnson and Ben Tischker. photo by Dana Rodriguez

Established by Yoko Ono in 1997 in conjunction with the BMI Foundation, the John Lennon Scholarships are made possible through generous donations from Ono with matching funds from Gibson Musical Instruments. Over $150,000 has been awarded over the last eight years to students from select colleges, universities and music schools, and from national submissions from MENC: The National Association for Music Education.]]> 2005-09-13T18:00:00+00:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234104 Turner, David, Accurso, Aron, Birkenhead, Susan, Engel, Lehman, Lopez, Robert, Marx, Jeff, Musical Theatre, Foundation, Jerry Harrington Musical Theater Award BMI Foundation is proud to announce the winners of the 5th Annual Jerry Harrington Musical Theatre Awards in recognition of outstanding creative achievement in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Jean Banks, BMI Foundation Director and Senior Director of the Workshop, presented certificates and cash prizes during a cocktail reception held June 14 at BMI's New York office.

Winners of the 5th Annual Jerry Harrington Musical Theatre Awards show off their certificates after the presentation. Pictured at the reception are BMI's Jean Banks, Advanced Workshop winner Jack Lechner, Second Year Workshop winner David Turner, First Year Workshop winner Aron Accurso, Librettists Workshop winner Richard Gleaves, and BMI Foundation President Ralph Jackson. Photo by Gary Gershoff

This year's winners, chosen by the Workshop Steering Committee, include First Year Workshop student Aron Accurso, Second Year student David Turner, Advanced Workshop student Jack Lechner, and Librettists Workshop student Richard Gleaves.

Established by Harrington's longtime friend and colleague, BMI executive Evelyn Buckstein, the awards are given each year in Harrington's honor to celebrate the late attorney's lifelong love of musical theater. In only five years, these awards have already given early recognition to some of the most talented and promising young musical theatre composers and librettists working in the field today, including newly crowned Tony Award winners Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (Avenue Q) who received the first Harrington awards in 2000.

The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop was established in 1961 by the late Lehman Engel, dean of American musical theater, to create a setting where new writers could learn their craft. Consisting of approximately 200 members, the Workshop is a highly competitive and selective teaching environment designed to provide hands on opportunities for theater composers and lyricists. An innovative program at its inception, the Workshop continues to flourish and is considered to be the foremost training ground for new writing voices. In addition to Marx and Lopez, other successful Workshop alumni include Edward Kleban (A Chorus Line), Susan Birkenhead (Jelly's Last Jam), and Gerard Allesandrini (Forbidden Broadway).

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance, and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, over 97% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.

Click here to listen to "My Latin Feel"

Pictured after the presentation of the BMI Foundation/peermusic Latin Scholarship are BMI Foundation President Ralph Jackson, BMI President & CEO Frances Preston, scholarship recipient Marco Godoy, and peermusic Chairman & CEO Ralph Peer II.

This new BMI Foundation scholarship was established through the generosity of Ralph Peer II and the peermusic companies and was open to students between the ages of 16 and 24 from 17 select schools in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Puerto Rico and Texas. The judges included Latin Grammy President Gabriel Abaroa, Warner Music Latina's Amir Agai, BMI's Dianne J. Almodovar, peermusic's Julio Bague, songwriter Rodolfo Castillo, BMI songwriter Kike Santander and Warner Music Latina President George Zamora.

Founded by Ralph S. Peer in 1928, peermusic is a global network of music publishing companies operating from 33 offices in 27 countries. With well over a quarter of a million titles in the company's catalogue, and songs that vary from country, blues, jazz and pop to Latin, concert and rock 'n' roll, peermusic is the largest privately owned company of its kind in the world.

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, over 97% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.]]> 2004-03-21T17:00:00+00:00 http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/233889 Jackson, Ralph, Schober, David, Classical, Foundation David Schober (right) is seen here with marimba virtuoso Makato Nakura (center) and BMI Foundation President Ralph Jackson at the US premiere of Schober's solo marimba work entitled Taepoong. The piece, commissioned by the BMI Foundation's Carlos Surinach Fund, was presented recently in Merkin Hall in New York City. The world premiere occurred in Tokyo, Japan in March of this year in a nationally televised concert on NHK.

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