NORTHERN CALIFORNIA VIOLA SOCIETY’S 2025-26 International Viola Composition Contest (IVCC)
The Northern California Viola Society announces its 2025-26 Composition Contest for unperformed, unrecorded
solo viola works, 3 minutes duration or under, composed in the last 5
years. The winning composition will be premiered by pre-professional
level finalists in the NCVS Young Violist Competition in San Francisco,
California, on March 8, 2026. There are typically 5-6 finalists, aged
19 and under with an advanced level of technical facility. Works should
reflect the ability level of the performers and offer contrasting
sections with both technical and emotional/lyrical opportunities. Preference given
to compositions originally written for viola, not transcriptions. No
tape, amplification or other accompaniment. Composers can be any age or
nationality.
Prize: $200
Deadline for submission: Oct 31, 2025
Winner and Runners-up announced: Dec 15, 2025
To Submit: Email your score PDF that includes date of composition and title but pseudonym for composer’s name to dmitri.yevstifeev@gmail.com.
In the email, include composer’s name, title of work and contact
information. Do not send mp3s, cover pages, bios, poems, images,
stories or anything not directly related to performing the work. All
submissions will be deleted after the judging.
NCVS
presented a session on the 6 most recent compositions in June 2024 at
the Colburn School in Los Angeles, CA for the American Viola Society
Festival, with (from left-right) Katrina Wreede, Jennifer Hwang, Rebekah
Sung, Colin Breshears, Michelle Koo, Pearl de la Motte, Sydney Whipple
and Daria D'Andrea. YVC past prize winners performed the works below by
Alischer Ikramutdinov, Dr. Andersen Viana, Dario Duarte, Andrew Wilson
and Denise Ondishko.
Past Composition Contest News and Links to works:
2024-25 winning composition: Heart of the Lake by Kamil Kosecki of Poland
Kamil Kosecki graduated from the Frederic Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, where he studied composition and bassoon. In 2012, he completed postgraduate studies in Film and Computer Music Composition at the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz University of Music in Łódź. Before participating in the NCVS Composer Competition, Kosecki had already composed several works for viola, one of the most important being Andromeda for viola and piano, written for the prominent Polish violist Katarzyna Budnik and pianist Piotr Kopczyński. His works have been performed across Europe, the USA, China, Japan, Brazil, and Mexico. He is the author of the official bugle call for the Wilanów district in Warsaw and composed music for a new adaptation of the musical Akademia Pana Kleksa at the
Gorzów Philharmonic. Kosecki has written music for several short films, including Introduction à la Métaphysique and Ofiarowanie directed by Bartosz Markowski, About Love directed by Piotr Szatyłowicz, and With Long Hair You Are More Beautiful directed by Carlotta Kittel. He has participated in masterclasses with
notable figures such as Marek Chołoniewski, Andrei Smirnov, Krzesimir Dębski,
Krzysztof Zanussi, Zygmunt Krauze, and Krzysztof Knittel. His compositions have
been recognized in over 20 prestigious competitions, including the 1st Prize at the
Tadeusz Baird Competition, Honorable Mentions at the Szymanowski and Komeda
International Composers Competitions, and the Grand Prize at the Rodrigo
Landa-Romero Competition. He has also received awards from Musica Sacra, PWM,
and A. Didur competitions, alongside multiple scholarships from ZAiKS and the
Polish Ministry of Culture.
2023-24 Prize-winner: Baby Elephant Wandering Deep in Thought by Alischer Ikramutdinov of Vienna, Austria.
Written after an outing to the zoo with
his young son, Baby Elephant is our winner for 2023-24. Mr Ikramutdinov
is originally from Tashkent but makes his home in Vienna. He studied
violin, flute, piano and guitar as well as composition and orchestral
conducting. He currently is taking on international composition projects
for theater, soloists and musical groups. Alischer has been writing
music for symphony and wind orchestra, chamber groups, choir and solo
instruments, including in
pop and rock styles. Baby Elephant was composed in 2023 for the
competition and we enjoyed hearing our young finalists take on this fun
and imaginative piece for solo viola.
Many thanks to our composition panelists: Jodi Levitz, Ethan Filner, Tom Tatton, Ben Simon, Katrina Wreede and Daria D'Andrea
Dr.
Andersen Viana is a composer and professor at Clóvis
Salgado Foundation in Belo Horizonte-Brazil. He began composing
at the age of 13 and became a professor at the age of 19. He completed
his PhD studies in composition at the Federal University of
Bahia and furthered his studies at other institutions in Brazil,
Italy and Sweden such as the Federal University of Minas Gerais
in Belo Horizonte, Reale Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, Arts Academy
of Rome, Accademia Chigiana di Siena and the Royal College of Music in
Stockholm. Many
thanks to our panel of judges: Jodi Levitz, Hank
Dutt, Kevin Jim, Ethan Filner, Tom Tatton, Daria D’Andrea and Katrina
Wreede.
Dario Duarte graduated
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the Universidad Nacional
de San Martin and studied piano at the Alberto Ginastera Conservatory in
Buenos Aires. In 2019 he composed his first opera SOMA, which was
awarded by the Williams Foundation of Buenos Aires. His compositions
include works for chamber ensemble, solo instruments and orchestra.
Dario
currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina and teaches at the School of
Humanities of the Universidad Nacional de San Martin and at the
Conservatorio Superior de Música Manuel de Falla.
Andrew Ahn performing Micro Suite
Composition finalists this year were (in alphabetical order):
Dream for Viola by Dr. Patricio Molina
Fantasieta by Prof. Dr. Andersen Viana
Furious by Jenna Colombet
La lune s’attristait. Des séraphins enpleurs rêvant by Andrew Haile Austin
Oak Branches by Blair Whittington
Teaser by Pablo Rubino
Transylvan by Mark Francis
2020-21 Winner: "Viola & Cesario" by Andrew M. Wilson
The Northern California Viola Society 2020-21 Composition Contest winner was "Viola & Cesario" by Andrew M. Wilson of Devon, UK.
The competition is for unperformed solo viola works, 3 minutes or
under, composed in the last 5 years. The winning composition was
premiered by finalists in the NCVS Young Violist Competition on March 7,
2021, presented online. Over 70 pieces from all over the world were submitted in November to our assembled reviewing panel of violists. It was exciting to see the international offerings and the large number of submissions. The pieces we received
demonstrated a huge range of creativity and musicality. We are deeply
grateful to all of the composers who submitted works this year.
2020-2021 Finalist compositions were:
"Fantasy for Viola Solo" by Jake Gesell
"Autumn Leaves Dancing in the Wind” by Masao Yokoyama
“Listen to Viola” by Frank den Bakker
"Shadow Child Prelude” by Lawrence Kramer
“Lovely on the Water” by John Whittaker
“FortEtude” by Eleanor Aversa
“Requiem, in memoriam K. Penderecki” by Andreina Costantini
NCVS
wishes to thank all the composers who entered! Many thanks to our panel
of violists for reviewing the entries: Ellen Ruth Rose, Hank Dutt, Jodi
Levitz, Patricia Heller, Thomas Tatton, Katrina Wreede & Daria D'Andrea,
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Our
2019-20 Composition Competition Winner was Denise Ondishko’s work,
COGITATIO for Viola Solo, chosen by the 5-member panel of professional
violists from 80-plus individual works submitted. Denise Ondishko was also the winner for 2018-19 with her piece, Out of Mud.The 86 works submitted in 2019 came from composers based in countries including: Indonesia,
China, Russia, Iran, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Italy, UK, Ireland,
France, Japan, Greece, Belgium, Israel, Germany, Austria, Brazil,
Canada, Mexico and the US.
The 2019-2020 finalist compositions were (in alphabetical order):
A Viking Farewell - Sarah Cattley
Cogitatio - Denise Ondishko (winner)
Dance for Solo Viola - Laura Paleari
Dolorondo - Wendy Davis
Étude - Lautaro Figueroa
Fabula - Maximiliano Garcia de Veas Gimena
Grasshopper - Milana Milosovic
One Evening in the Forest - Reina Yoshioka
Rite of Fire - Indra Persons
Threnody for a Skinned Cat - Gu Wei
Upon the Path of the Infinite - Girard Kratz
Whirling Dervish (from Balkan Pictures) - C. J. Kachulis
