High School Performance, Composition & Songwriting Competition

High School Competition Banner featuring four types of music making

Registration

Cost
No fee

Registration Deadline (NEW)
January 15, 2023 | 11:59pm

The deadline to register and submit your recordings for the competition has now passed.

The High School Performance, Composition and Songwriting Competition is an opportunity for young musicians to develop their skills. If you are a student preparing to audition for post-secondary studies in music, this is a good way to prepare your audition repertoire, and learn about best recording practices.

Six categories will be judged individually, with the winner of each category awarded a prize of $400.

Voice
Piano
Strings (violin, viola, cello, double bass, classical guitar, harp)
Winds, Brass & Percussion (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, trombone, euphonium/baritone, tuba, percussion instruments)
Songwriting (contemporary song)
Composition (a piece of music in a classical genre or film score style)

What’s the catch?
There is no catch, no strings attached. You have no obligation to attend Western if you are a prize winner, but we'd love to see you here!

Submission Requirements

Only those students currently attending a Canadian High School are eligible to participate.

All participants must submit a video recording of 1-2 selections, with a combined length of no more than 10 minutes.

Voice, piano, strings, winds, brass and percussion participants must perform their selections themselves, with or without accompaniment.

Songwriters and composers can have others perform their music, or it may be generated on laptop or other electronic instrument.

Recordings can be submitted by YouTube link (visibility may be set to "unlisted"), Vimeo link (privacy may be set to "only people with a password" – but be sure to provide the password during registration).

Video recordings must be prepared according to the following conditions:

The recording must be of high quality, especially the audio
The performer's face and hands must be visible throughout the recording
Songs may be recorded separately, but each one must be recorded in a single take without any edits

January 16, 2023 - The deadline to register and submit your recordings for the competition has now passed. Thank you to all those who submitted recordings, and congratulations to all our winners! Read news story.