Blue Stars Announce "On Corps!" Arranging Competition

I am proud to be a partner with the Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps as they announce a new competition for aspiring arrangers and composers! We invite individuals with an interest in arranging and composing music to submit their works to be considered for performance by the 2016 Blue Stars. The winning arrangement/composition will be performed as part of the corps` encore repertoire for the season.

All participants will receive feedback from members of the Blue Stars design and instructional team, including myself and Richard Saucedo.

Works submitted should meet the following criteria:

1. May not be shorter than 1 minute 30 seconds or longer than two minutes in length
2. Must be arranged with the following part distribution:
   • 3 trumpets
   • 2 mellophones
   • 3 baritones/euphoniums
   • 1 tuba (sparing use of divisi writing is permissible)
   • percussion (Our staff will augment percussion parts as needed)
3. Music must be able to be performed publicly under current copyright laws. The Blue Stars will pay copyright fees for the winning work if needed.
4. The work must be an original arrangement or composition, unpublished in any other venue.

Submission Process:A $50 fee must accompany each submission. Individuals may submit as many entries as they so choose, but each submitted work requires the $50 fee. A PDF score and digital recording (both computer-synthesized and live ensemble recordings are acceptable) must be submitted to ward.miller@bluestars.org by 8 AM on Monday, April 1, 2016. The score must include the author's full name, e-mail address, and telephone number. The winner will be announced by Friday, April 15, and the winning work will be performed as an encore by the Blue Stars Drum and bugle Corps during their 2016 tour. All submissions will receive feedback on their submissions no later than May 20, 2016.