Judging Criteria

Judging Criteria for the Compositions will include up to 5 points assigned to each of the following 3 categories:

1. Originality/Creativity; 2. Technical Proficiency; 3. Orchestration and Overall Effectiveness

   Note that the majority of entries are entered on just one instrument, so don’t worry if the orchestration is just piano or violin.

About Judges for 2026 Competition (In Progress)

1. Andrew Sigler - Andrew Sigler’s music has been commissioned, performed, and awarded by the Wellesley Composers Conference, Meir Rimon Commissioning Fund of the International Horn Society, World Saxophone Congress, Composer’s Inc. Suzanne and Lee Ettelson award, Earplay Donald Aird Composers Competition, Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers, SCI and NACUSA National Festivals, Nief-Norf, Oregon Bach Festival, Seasons Festival, International Brass Symposium, TUTTI Festival, Open Space New Music Festival, University of Texas New Music Ensemble, University of Tennessee Faculty Brass Quintet, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, Hear No Evil, Simple Measures, Bold City Contemporary Ensemble, and Fast>>Forward>>Austin. His writing has been featured in NewMusicBox and Opera News. Andrew is Associate Professor of Music Composition at the University of Tennessee and president of the National Association of Composers, USA. Please visit andrewsigler.com for more information

2. Donald Sloan - an award-winning composer of varied works for chamber and larger ensembles. His music has been performed and recorded by various players and ensembles throughout the United States and abroad. He is currently Professor of Music at Coastal Carolina University, where he directs the Composition and Music Theory curriculum. Originally from Long Island, NY, Sloan has degrees from Cornell University, University of Michigan, The Eastman School of Music and Binghamton University. His musical influences come from a variety of sources, including Jewish music, jazz, French music and others. In more trivial matters, he is a three time champion on Jeopardy! I have posted a sampling of Prof. Sloan’s delightful compositions and an expanded bio.

3. Mengmeng Wang - as a composer, she has had her pieces performed all around the world at events including ACO Earshort Reading, the MATA festival, the SEAMUS 2021 Digital Conference, the concert of Chicago Composer’s Consortium: Experimental Sound Studio, June in Buffalo, the Atlantic Center of the Arts, Ithaca NY, Glasgow UK, and the Beijing Modern Music Festival. Her music was awarded the 2022 Petrichor International Music Competition the Third Prize and an Honor Award at the 1st eARTS Digital Audio Competition etc. She was chosen as a residency composer by both Atlantic Center of the Arts and Ragdale Foundation. She has had the privilege of working with a number of ensembles and performers, including Naples Philharmonic, Shanghai Opera Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Dal Niente and International Contemporary Ensemble. 

4. Jorge Variego - was born in Rosario, Argentina. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and is currently Assistant Professor of Music and Technology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and is the director of the composition program at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. His music can be heard in the Parma, Albany Records, CMMAS, Centaur and Naxos libraries. In 2018 his book on algorithmic composition was released by the National University ofQuilmes, in Argentina. During that same year he received the support of the Swedish Arts Grants Committee to be resident composer at the Visby Centre for Composers and was guest

   lecturer at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, in Spain. Among his recent research endeavors, his book “Composing with Constraints” was published by Oxford University Press in 2021. In 2023 he was the guest in many festivals, including the inaugural Festival de Música Algorítmica y Modular hosted by the Universidad Nacional de Musica de Perú, in Lima. In the 23-24 season, his music was performed by the Oak Ridge Symphony, the Bryan Symphony and the Knoxville Symphony.

   Jorge is the founder director of the Domino Ensemble a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, commission, and performance of new music with improvisation. The group released “Purple Ego” (Centaur – 2019) and “Recompensa” (Centaur – 2023) among other recordings. In 2023 the ensemble performed at the Big Ears festival in collaboration with British author Geoff Dyer and in 2024 presented “Recompensa” at the ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn, NY.

   He is also the founder director of the UT Electroacoustic Ensemble, a student group dedicated to free improvisation with electronic media and is the Treasurer of ATMI and a member of the Society of Composers National Council.

   Jorge is the 2025 Composition Fellow by the TN Arts Commission.

   For more information, please visit: www.jorgevariego.com

5. Murphy Severtson (b. 1999) is a composer, administrator, teacher, theater artist, vocalist, and accordionist. Based in New York City, they make music centered in care, reciprocity, and human connection. Their music has been performed by the Rhythm Method, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and the St. Olaf Band, at Lincoln Center, the Dimenna Center, and National Sawdust.

   
   As an educator, they currently work at the New York Philharmonic at the Very Young Composers Bridge program, teaching composers between 8 and 13. In March 2024, they served on a panel of four guest composers at a masterclass, teaching four student composers from the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s.  Murphy worked as a teaching and research assistant at St. Olaf College and Mannes College at the New School. Furthermore, they give lectures and workshops about making art during the climate crisis and the work of Pauline Oliveros.
   
   They work as an events manager and organizer, most recently with the American Composers Orchestra and composer Paul Pinto. Murphy is a founding member of Mosaic Composers Collective, a group of fresh collaborators and composers working in New York City.
    
   They studied with Timothy Mahr, Yan Pang, JC Sanford, and Justin Merritt at St. Olaf, graduating summa cum laude in 2022. Murphy studies with Valerie Coleman and Alyssa Weinberg at the Mannes College of Music at the New School.

   My most upcoming item on the docket is this performance of this dance theater piece I will perform in and write music for called Dinner. Here's the link for upcoming performances!! https://www.bricktheater.com/event/dinner/2025-09-04/

6. Kevin James - (he/him), Director of Education for the American Composers Orchestra, is a noted educator, a world-class performer and composer, a writer, a thinker, and an obsessive problem solver. His groundbreaking models for community engagement and out of school arts education for disadvantaged children have had a dramatic impact on the lives of countless children and have influenced the work of dozens of organizations in New York City and beyond. He’s served on several university advisory boards and regularly sits on selection committees and expert panels.

Extra Guest Judge sometimes adds extra comments:

7. Paul Brody was born in California, USA, and trained as a musician at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Brody works regularly as a sound artist, composer and trumpeter at the Théâtre de Vidy in Switzerland, the Munich Kammerspiele, the Berliner Ensemble, the MC93 Paris, the New York Harlem Opera and the Vienna Burgtheater, among others. He works closely with the music producer John Zorn. His album “Behind the Words”,  won the best-of list of the German Record Critics' Award. Paul Brody was nominated for the Europe Broadcasting Festival, and was chosen for Artist in Residence for sound art at the Museums Quartier in Vienna, and at the Munich Kammerspiele. He has been commissioned to compose a number of operas and symphonies. A few are at the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy, the Oldenburg Symphony, and the Badische State Opera. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany. Website is PaulBrody.net