Hopeman Memorial Carillon

Up to $3,500 in total prize money may be awarded at the jury’s discretion, according to the following benchmarks:

• First prize: $2,000
• Second prize: $1,000
• Performance award(s): $500

• Only University of Rochester alumni and part- or full-time students are eligible to submit one piece each.
• Composers who have already received two or more prizes in previous cycles of this competition are ineligible.
• Pieces must have been originally composed after August 2025 and must never have been published or performed publicly.
• Scoring may be for solo carillon with one, two, or three players, or for carillon plus fixed electronic tracks.
• Submissions for three- or four-octave carillon are welcome. Any notes exceeding a 48-bell four-octave range (C–C chromatic minus low C#) may only be included as optional substitutions in parentheses, while the primary notes should fit within the 48-bell range.

Email Carson Landry by January 11 for written feedback on your score. This step is optional but highly encouraged. Those who meet this deadline are also eligible for an in-person draft listening and feedback session on the carillon, subject to availability.

• Submission deadline: March 15
• Decisions announced by: May 15
• Premiere of first prize winner by: October 1

By March 15, 2027, email one PDF score and one corresponding MIDI-generated MP3 audio file to carson.landry@rochester.edu, with the subject “Composition Award Submission.”

• In the body of the email, provide your:
  • Full name:
  • URochester affiliation:
  • Address:
  • Phone number:
  • Title of piece:
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) declaration:
    • Option 1: No generative AI tools or programs were used to create this composition.
    • Option 2: I acknowledge the use of [name(s) of AI program(s) with link(s)] to [description of your usage of generative AI, including your prompts and how the program’s output was utilized].

By submitting, you will maintain copyright to your work but agree, if awarded a prize, to grant the University of Rochester permission to format and post your score online for free download in perpetuity.

Both files should be fully anonymized, including in their metadata, and titled only with the piece name. (These anonymized files will be distributed only to the jurors, who will delete them after evaluation.)

A program note not exceeding 150 words may be included on a title page of the PDF.

One juror and Carson Landry will conduct a preselection round to advance six to ten pieces to the full jury for award consideration. Carson Landry is not a juror in the latter, final round. Pieces will be evaluated based on their suitability to the carillon, originality, and balance of musical interest with accessibility for the performer. Highly virtuosic pieces are discouraged.

Jury:

• Austin Aldrich, Clinic Carillonneur, Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN)
• Alex Johnson ’19, University Carillonist, University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
• Mark Powell ’19E (DMA), Senior Lecturer and Director of Orchestral Activities, Arthur Satz Department of Music (Rochester, NY)

• Composing for Carillon by Joey Brink, NewMusicUSA.org
• ArrangingForCarillon.com
• It is recommended that MP3 submissions use the Centralia Carillon (Paccard) soundfont available on the above website, optionally transposed one octave up from its default concert pitch, to give the best sense of how the music would sound on the Hopeman Carillon.
• It is recommended that pedal parts be confined to the lower 1.5 octaves (C–G chromatic, minus low C#) of the two-octave pedalboard, as the highest pedals are difficult for many players to reach.
• Composers local to Rochester are encouraged to listen to carillon recitals in-person and attend tower tours to become acquainted with our carillon.
• See Schedule section for information on draft feedback opportunities.

Carson Landry, lecturer of music and University carillonist