Contest 2009:

We wish to extend our appreciation to all our contestants for their participation. We especially want to thank the 2009 Rapido! finalists and judges. At our first concert of the season: “Rapido!” on October 4, 2009, ACP performed the four finalist works and our panel of distinguished judges determined first, second and third prize winners; the attending audience chose the Audience Favorite prize. The judges included composer Michael Gandolfi, Dennis Hanthorn of The Atlanta Opera, and Jared Sacks of Channel Classics Recordings. The winner of the First Prize was awarded a commission to expand the brief entry and complete the composition for premiere at ACP’s final concert of the season, April 28, 2010.

The Finalists:

Alan Elkins – Tennessee --- THIRD PRIZE WINNER

Alan Elkins holds degrees in viola performance from Florida State University and music composition from Bowling Green State University (M.M. 2009). His composition teachers include Elainie Lillios, Burton Beerman, Mark Wingate, and Jim David. His works have been performed throughout the eastern United States, including performances by flautist Clark Barnes, the BGSU Steel Drum Ensemble, the BGSU Early Music Ensemble, and Trio Joyeux. He is also an active violist, and has performed with orchestras and professional ensembles throughout the north Florida region, including the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and the Sinfonia Gulf Coast, and has served as principal violist in the Florida State University Philharmonia and Opera Orchestras. He has premiered several solo and chamber works and was an active participant in the BGSU New Music Ensemble. Alan Elkins currently serves on faculty at the School of Music at Lee University in Cleveland, TN. His music is published through Purple Frog Press.

Jon Jeffrey Grier - South Carolina --- FIRST PRIZE WINNER

Jon Jeffrey Grier holds a B.A. from Kalamazoo College, an M.M. in Composition from Western Michigan University, and an M.M. in Theory and a D.M.A. in Composition from the University of South Carolina. Jon has taught music theory and music history at the Greenville Fine Arts Center, a magnet school of the arts in Greenville, South Carolina, since 1988; in 2004-05 he received a grant from the Surdna Foundation and was voted Teacher of the Year. He composes frequently for student and faculty performers at the FAC, usually when he should really be grading papers. Jon has also been a writer/keyboardist with various jazz ensembles in Greenville since 1984. His sons Benjamin and Daniel are college students; he lives in Greenville with wife Marion and lab-mix mutt Sally Mae. Visit Jon on the web at www.newertunes.com.

Paul Richards - Florida

Paul Richards, Associate Professor of Composition at the University of Florida, is the recipient of numerous prizes and commissions. Born in New York City in 1969 to a musical family, Paul has been engaged with music since childhood, including forays into various popular styles, the Western canon, and Jewish sacred and secular music through his father, a cantor. All of these experiences inform his creative activities, which have included numerous orchestral, vocal, chamber, and theatrical works. His works have been heard throughout the United States and internationally on six continents. Awards include Special Distinction in the ASCAP Rudolph Nissim Prize, the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s Fresh Ink competition prize, the New Music for Sligo/IMRO composition prize, and many others. Commissions have come from orchestras, wind ensembles, choirs, and chamber ensembles, and his works have been recorded by Richard Stoltzman, the Slovak Radio Orchestra, the Moravian Philharmonic, and numerous chamber groups. Music by Paul Richards is recorded on the Meyer Media, MMC, ERM, Capstone, Mark, and Summit labels, and is published by Southern Music, Carl Fischer Music, TrevCo Music, the International Horn Society Press, Jéanne, Inc., and Margalit Music.

Seyed A. Safavynia - Georgia --- SECOND PRIZE & AUDIENCE FAVORITE WINNER

Seyed A. Safavynia began composing at age 9, but studied music primarily as a violinist until he graduated high school at age 15. He then matriculated at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1998 with a microbiology major before beginning compositional studies under the direction of Dr. John Anthony Lennon at Emory University in 2000. After completing undergraduate school in 2002, he explored many career options including orthopaedic research and music composition, and was awarded the president’s scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music in the studio of Richard Danielpour. During this time, he composed a number of solo and chamber works in addition to works for symphonic band commissioned by the Georgia Tech Wind Ensemble. In 2005, Seyed received funding to pursue an MD/PhD dual degree at Emory University School of Medicine from the Medical Scientist Training program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. His graduate studies are in neuroscience, and he is the neuroscience curriculum director for Emory’s Pipeline Program, a program dedicated to educating underserved high school students in the health sciences. He still composes regularly, and is presently involved in completing a work for chorus. In addition to composing, Seyed is interested in taking the mathematical approaches used in neural processing and applying them to musical contexts, particularly in the elucidation of twentieth-century harmony.

• Cash prizes total more than $6,000
• Each finalist will receive $500 to be used for travel to Atlanta for October 4, 2009, competition concert
• First Prize: $3,500 award to complete the originally submitted work by composing an additional 10–12 minutes of music ($1,750 to be paid upon being declared the winner of the contest and signing a Commissioning Agreement, and the remaining $1,750 to be paid upon the March 30, 2010, delivery of the Commissioned Work)
• Second Prize: $600
• Third Prize: $400
• Audience Favorite Prize: $250

• First 100 online registrants
• Residents or full-time student residents of 11 Southern states: (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
• Composers of all ages and levels of professional experience

• June 1, 2009: Closing date for online registration at www.atlantachamberplayers.com.
• June 8, 2009: Announcement made online and by email of required form and instrumentation of Rapido! composition entries. (Maximum group is quintet.)
• June 8, 2009 – June 22, 2009: Composers have 14 days to compose an original movement of 4-6 minutes based on strict requirements. Entry fee of $20 due with score, parts, electronically generated CD and executed entry forms.
• August 14, 2009: Announcement of up to four finalist compositions.
• October 4, 2009: Finalist compositions performed in concert by the Atlanta Chamber Players at the High Museum’s Walter Hill Auditorium in Atlanta.
• March 30, 2010: First Prize Winning Commissioned Work of 14-18 minutes to be delivered to Atlanta Chamber Players for premiere performance on April 28, 2010.

1. The contest is open to the first 100 registrants of any age who are residents or full-time student residents of the following 11 Southern states: (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV). Entrants will be required to sign a sworn statement that he or she resides or is a full-time student resident in one of the abovementioned states. Registrants must indicate their age group on the required form.
   
2. Entrants must register for the contest online at www.atlantachamberplayers.com by June 1, 2009.
   
3. Composition requirements (instrumentation and form) will be sent to registrants’ email addresses and posted on Atlanta Chamber Players’s website on June 8, 2009.
   
4. Entrants may submit only new, wholly original compositions written during the 14-day period of June 8–22, 2009. Any composition not including the required instrumentation and form will not be accepted. Entrants will be asked to certify the originality of the compositions submitted, that the entrant is the sole composer of the composition, and that the composition was created during the 14-day competition period.
   
5. Scores and parts for the composition must be accompanied by an electronically generated CD, a copy of the completed entry forms (available online June 8, 2009) and the entry fee of $20. No faxed or emailed entries. Scores must be submitted anonymously; the composer’s name should appear ONLY on the entry forms and NOT on any page of the score, parts or CD.
   
6. Entry fee must be a check or money order made out to Atlanta Chamber Players in the amount of $20. Any entries received without this entry fee or the completed entry forms will not be accepted.
   
7. Submissions MUST BE POSTMARKED BY JUNE 22, 2009 with no signature required on delivery. Exact mailing address will be posted June 8, 2009 with composition requirement details.
   
8. Scores will be returned only when a self-addressed stamped envelope is included with submission. All materials will be handled carefully but Atlanta Chamber Players cannot be responsible for damage or loss in mailing.
   
9. The finalists will be announced on August 14, 2009. Each finalist is required to attend the October 4, 2009, concert and will receive $500 for travel expenses.
   
10. Prizes will be awarded at the October 4, 2009, concert. First Prize is $3,500 ($1,750 to be paid upon being declared the winner of the contest and signing a Commissioning Agreement, and the remaining $1,750 to be paid upon delivery of the Commissioned Work). Second Prize is $600, Third Prize $400, and Audience Favorite Prize is $250.
    
11. Atlanta Chamber Players shall have the exclusive right (i) to perform publicly the finalists’ compositions through October 4, 2010 (the “Performances”); (ii) to record and broadcast any of the Performances made through October 4, 2010; and (iii) to make and distribute copies of the Performances through any media whatsoever.
    
12. Contestants may be videotaped by or on behalf of Atlanta Chamber Players for use as Atlanta Chamber Players sees fit including, without limitation, in a documentary regarding the competition, or in connection with advertising, promoting, or marketing for the competition. Such videotaping may include a contestant’s working on the composition at contestant’s home or studio.
    
13. The First Prize winner will be required to complete the originally submitted work by composing an additional 10–12 minutes of music to be delivered to the Atlanta Chamber Players by March 30, 2010 (the “Commissioned Work”). The total length of the Commissioned Work should be between 14-18 minutes. The $3,500 First Prize award shall be paid in two installments: $1,750 upon being declared the winner of the competition and signing a Commissioning Agreement; and $1,750 upon delivery to the Atlanta Chamber Players of the Commissioned Work by March 30, 2010. The First Prize winner will be asked to certify the originality of the Commissioned Work and that he/she is the sole composer of the Commissioned Work.
    
14. Atlanta Chamber Players shall have the exclusive right (i) to perform publicly the Commissioned Work through May 2011 (the “Performances”); (ii) to record and broadcast any of the Performances of the Commissioned Work made through May 2011; and (iii) to make and distribute copies of the Performances through any media whatsoever.
    
15. Decisions of the judges will be final. Judges may declare no winners if they determine that the compositions are not appropriate for performance by the Atlanta Chamber Players.
    
16. Judging will be conducted by Atlanta Chamber Players musicians, professional composers and music dignitaries.