The Bowdoin International Music Festival is pleased to announce its seventh annual student composition competition for works written for a solo stringed instrument. A prize of $500 will be awarded to the winning composer, and the selected work will be premiered at the Bowdoin International Music Festival’s 2014 Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, July 31-August 3.

The 2014 competition is for works written for solo (unaccompanied) stringed instruments - violin, viola, cello, or double bass – by any U.S. student who are under the age of 35 by April 1. Compositions must be 5 to 8 minutes long and may not have been previously published or performed in a public concert. All submissions, multiples are accepted, must be accompanied by the $25 submission fee. For more information and guidelines, visit bowdoinfestival.org.

Committed to the creation and performance of contemporary classical music, the Bowdoin Festival has funded residencies and commissioned works from major composers since its founding in 1964.

In 2008, the Festival initiated a competition to encourage student composers through the provision of prize money and production of one new work each summer, in addition to works chosen from among the Festival's composition students.

The mission of the Bowdoin International Music Festival is to prepare gifted young musicians from around the world for a life in music through study with world-class artists, and to present classical music in concerts performed to the highest artistic standards. Over its 50-year history, the Festival has established itself as a vital force throughout the music world. Visit the Bowdoin International Music Festival on the web at www.bowdoinfestival.org.