Sandra Fivecoat Memorial
Composition Contest
Inversion Ensemble is now accepting submissions for our annual Sandra Fivecoat Memorial Composition Contest. The composer of the winning piece will receive a prize of $750 and a performance by our professional treble choral ensemble Da Capo at their “Hear Me Roar” concert that will take place on March 1 & 2, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Submissions are due Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 11:59 PM Central Time. Da Capo welcomes the use of extended technique, non-traditional forms, graphic scores, etc.
Qualifications:
Composers must be able to legally accept payment in U.S. dollars. There is no age restriction for composers. The contest is not open to any current and past singers or composers of Inversion Ensemble.
Composition Requirements:
Performance time between 3 to 5 minutes
Scored for treble choir, a cappella or with piano accompaniment
Suitable for a professional choir
Concert title and theme: Hear Me Roar is a concert that features music that empowers and uplifts voices that are often silenced—that of BIPOC women, folks in the non-binary and LGBTQIA+ communities, and countries suffering from the ravages of war.
Any text for the piece must be the composer’s original writing, in the public domain, or be accompanied by a letter of permission from the copyright owner. Text can be in any language, with the composer providing IPA or phonetic transcriptions if necessary.
Scores must be engraved using Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, Musescore, or similar, and submitted in PDF format, with the composer’s name removed. The PDF copy must be clear, clean, and legible. No handwritten scores will be considered. Graphic scores may be a PDF scan of a hand-written score if applicable.
Submitted pieces may have received previous performances, but may not be published by a publishing house prior to March 1, 2025. Self-published scores are acceptable.
Please submit only one (1) entry total.
No fee is required for submission.
Fill out the google form to provide the following:
Composer and composition information
PDF copy of your composition without your name anywhere on the body of composition.
MP3 recording or midi rendering without your name anywhere
Judging criteria include, but are not limited to:
Compositional structure
Voice leading
Harmonic language
Adherence to concert theme
Text selection and setting
General understanding of choral idiom
All entries must be submitted by Wednesday January 15, 2025 at 11:59 PM Central Time. The winner will be notified no later than January 29, 2025, and have the opportunity to have a Zoom meeting with Da Capo Director Katrina Saporsantos. The winner will receive a $750 cash prize, inclusion of the piece on our March 1 and 2, 2025, concert, and a recording of composition concert performances. The composer is welcome but not required to attend the concert. Unfortunately, no funds are available to offset travel costs.
Please fill out this form and upload materials here.
Send questions here: outreach@inversionatx.org
Sandra Fivecoat Memorial
Emerging Composer Contest Winners
Jimmy Kachulis, 2024 winner
Inversion proudly announces that the winner of the 2023 Sandra Fivecoat Memorial Composer Contest is Jimmy Kachulis for his composition African Violet.
Jimmy Kachulis teaches songwriting and lyric writing at Berklee, conducts clinics nationwide, and has helped thousands of songwriters develop and maximize their skills. Look through the bios of some of today's best songwriters, and his name comes up again and again; his students' works have earned Grammy nominations, and been recorded by a vast range of artists on major and independent labels. An accomplished composer, arranger, and conductor, he has worked with legendary artists such as George Coleman, Jon Hendricks, John Lewis and Martha Reeves, and his compositions have been featured on scores from The Sopranos to Touched By an Angel. Kachulis's songs and arrangements for "Island Breeze," by legendary guitarist, Eric Gale, have been re-released and distributed worldwide under the Warner Brothers label.
Jeffrey Derus, 2023 open division winner
Inversion proudly announces that the winner of the 2023 Sandra Fivecoat Memorial Emerging Composer Contest Open Division is Jeffrey Derus for his composition Afternoon on a Hill. Watch video.
Jeffrey Derus is an American composer, producer, and musician. His music has gained a worldwide presence with commissions and performances from ensembles such as Choral Arts Initiative, INSPIRARE, Constellation Men’s Ensemble, Inversion Ensemble, KC VITAS, the Nova Scotia Choral Federation, Temple University, and Vanguard University. Hailed as “powerful, dramatic, lucid” (Sonograma Magazine) and “elegant” (Voice of OC), his music is “akin to that of Holy Minimalism.” (AllMusic)
Derus’ premiere concert work, From Wilderness: A Meditation on the Pacific Crest Trail, captures the transformative experience of traveling the Pacific Crest Trail. From Wilderness made its commercial debut in April 2022 with Director Brandon Elliott and Choral Arts Initiative along with cellist Kevin Mills. It ranked #3 on the Billboard Charts (Traditional Classical Albums), #2 Best Seller on iTunes Classical Charts, and #1 New Release Opera/Vocal Albums on Amazon. From Wilderness has been praised for its “fascinating and multifaceted sound world.” (CD Hotlist) “It just doesn’t get much better than this.” (Take Effect Reviews)
Jeffrey is the winner of the 2023 ACDA Brock Prize for Professional Composers for his piece “I Will Go”. He is also a recipient of the Britten-Pears and Holst Foundation residency in Aldeburgh, UK. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from California State University, Fullerton and a Master of Arts degree in Education and Curriculum Design from Brandman University. Jeffrey is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, and the Recording Academy.
As a founding board member and choral artist of Choral Arts Initiative; he is called to perform new choral works and compose “music with pros he can proudly rub elbows with.” (Midwest Records)
Published by Caribbean Blue Publishing, his music is available at Graphite, MusicSpoke, and J.W. Pepper.
https://www.jeffreyderus.com
Shahar Regev, 2022 under 35 division winner
Every Song
We are excited to announce Shahar Regev as the winner of the Sandra Fivecoat Memorial Composition Contest, 35 & under category! Her winning work for choir and electronic track, Every Song, is a beautiful and fascinating setting of the popular poem by Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca.
Regev, a native of Israel, has created a wonderfully diverse catalog of compositions, ranging from solo, small, and large chamber ensemble works, to orchestral, choral music, arrangements, and music for theater. Many of her works focus on social subjects, such as violence against women, indifference, and environmental changes.
We at Inversion heartily congratulate Shahar Regev and cannot wait to premiere this new version of Every Song at our Electric Choir concert on October 22! Get tickets here.
Cole Reyes, 2021 under 35 division winner
Inversion proudly announces that the winner of the 2021 Sandra Fivecoat Memorial Emerging Composer Contest Under 35 Division is Cole Reyes for his composition Fire Weather.
Cole Reyes (b. 1998) is a Brooklyn-based composer, educator, conductor, and performer originally from the Chicagoland Area. His music has been awarded by groups such as IL-ACDA, the National Flute Association, Lux Choir, newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, the Huntsville Master Chorale, and many others. He has collaborated with artists such as the JACK Quartet, Transient Canvas, Dashon Burton, the Momenta Quartet, and Unheard-of//Ensemble. He received his undergraduate degrees in music and mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. While there, he had the opportunity to study with Christopher Stark and LJ White. He currently attends New York University where he is pursuing a master’s degree in Concert Music Composition, studying with Robert Honstein, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe.
Graham Yates, 2021 open division winner
Drinking Alone Under the Moon
Canadian pianist, teacher and composer Graham Yates has lived in Texas since 2014 where he owns North Austin Piano Studio and is a busy collaborative pianist. Through producing concerts and performing, he loves to connect with audiences and students alike to create meaningful experiences through music of many kinds.
He earned a Bachelour of Arts in Music from Trinity Western University in British Columbia studying under Dr. Sandra Joy Friesen, a Debussy and improvisation specialist; and a Master of Music in Piano Performance at Brandon University in Manitoba, under the guidance of Dr. Alexander Tselyakov, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory.
Mr. Yates is the teacher to around 40 private students, a master clinician for the Houston Area Suzuki Piano Association, a music festival adjudicator, and a member of the College of Examiners at the Royal Conservatory of Music. In 2020, he was nominated for the B. Iden Payne award for Outstanding Music Director for his role in One Ounce Opera’s annual festival of new chamber operas. He frequently appears with other local opera companies and prominent choirs in Austin.
As a composer, his song cycles have been performed by Local Opera Local Artists and by Austin Chamber Music Center. His chamber opera, The Measure of Love, was premiered recently in Houston, and he sells solo piano and chamber works all over the US.
He lives in Round Rock with his husband, Joe, and their black Labrador retrievers, Ava and Oreo.
Shruthi Rajasekar, 2020 winner
Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep
Shruthi Rajasekar is an Indian-American composer and vocalist exploring identity, community, and joy. Hailed by The Guardian as a composer "who will enrich your life,” Shruthi creates intersectional music that draws from her training in the Carnatic (South Indian classical) and Western classical idioms. Recent composition honors include the KHORIKOS ORTUS International Award (New York City, USA) and the Global Women in Music Award presented by the United Nations & Donne in Musica (Rome, Italy). She has been commissioned by VocalEssence, Hertfordshire Chorus, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, and has participated in residencies with the Britten-Pears Foundation and Snape Matings. Shruthi’s music has appeared on Spotify’s Official Classical Releases Playlist, BBC Radio 3, and broadcast stations across the USA. She is featured in the “Rising Star” section of the December 2020 BBC Music Magazine. An alumnus of Princeton University, where she received the Edward T. Cone Prize in Composition, Shruthi pursued graduate studies in the United Kingdom as a Marshall Scholar (M.Mus Composition, RNCM; M.Mus Ethnomusicology, SOAS, University of London). Shruthi regularly performs as a Carnatic vocalist, classically-trained soprano, and in collaborative, improvisatory, and experimental settings.
Luke Flynn, 2020 winner
Agnus Dei
Luke Flynn (b. 1988) is a composer for film, video games, and concert hall symphonic and choral music. In the film industry, Flynn has worked on film scores for the biggest composers in the industry, including John Williams, James Newton Howard, and Danny Elfman. His Hollywood music department credits include some of the biggest movies in the world, including Frozen II, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, La La Land, and many others. Recently, Flynn’s music can be heard in the 2018 hit comedy, Holmes and Watson (Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly). As a concert composer, his works have won or placed as a finalist in a multitude of national and international composition contests, such as the Sydney Australia Contemporary Orchestra call for scores, the South Korea Busan Maru International Composition Contest (orchestra), the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, the CSUN Orchestra Northridge Composition Prize, the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus Composition Competition, and many others. Flynn holds a master of music composition degree from Butler University, where he studied with Michael Schelle, a bachelor’s degree from Clarke University, where he studied with Amy Dunker, and also studied music composition at the International University of Kagoshima in Japan with Tadashi Kubo. Flynn resides in Iowa with his wife and daughter, where he conducts all of his work from his studio.
Christopher Fludd, 2019 winner
Watercolors
Christopher Fludd is an upcoming composer and educator from Long Island, New York. He is a recent graduate of Westminster Choir College, where he received a Bachelor’s of Music degree in Music Education. Chris currently serves as a private vocal/instrumental instructor in Bellmore, New York.
Chris has performed on various concert stages across the country as a soloist and chorister. A few notable experiences include singing the role of Paolino in Domenic Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto at the Spoleto Festival USA, and performing in Westminster’s leading ensemble at the ACDA National and Regional Conventions. Chris continues to inspire others with his incredible musicianship and passion for the arts.
Carlos Cordero, 2018 winner
Nada te turbe
Carlos Cordero (b. 1992), recent University of Houston Affiliated Fellow at the American Academy of Rome , is an award-winning composer, including: First place in the International Choral Composition Competition Japan 2018 , Inversion Ensemble’s Emerging Composer Competition, Vox Populi Winner in I International Choral Composition Competition Alberto Grau , The Uncommon Music Festival Choral Composition Competition , as well as winner of the 2017 Chorus Austin Young Composer’s Competition. Cordero enjoys writing music mainly for the voice, having completed a 3-act operetta, Un Cuento de Luces y Sombras (A tale of Light and Shadows), with an original story and libretto. His pieces have traveled around the world, including America, Europe, and Asia!
Originally from Maracaibo, Venezuela, Carlos is currently residing in Austin, Texas after finishing his Master of Music in Composition at the University of Houston, with mentor Dr. David Ashley White. Cordero is a former singer with UH’s Concert Chorale under the direction of Dr. Betsy Cook Weber, winning the 28th Béla Bartók International Choral Competition Grand Prix where his piece This Sky received its international premiere. Published by Panamusica, E.C. Schirmer, and Selah Publishing, Cordero is currently working on his educational project called Happy Composer while working as composer-in-residence at Chorus Austin. He is a former Choral Conductor and Music Educator at El Sistema, and holds a B.M. and a Specialization in Composition from Universidad Católica Cecilio Acosta.