The 11th Annual New Jersey Young Composers Competition Finals, Andrew Lesser

Andrew Lesser, Ed.D. Technology Chair, NJMEA Chairman, NJ Young Composers Competition andrew.lesser@yahoo.com www.andrewlessermusic.com

The 11th annual New Jersey Young Composers Competition (NJ-YCC) finals were held on Saturday, February 22, 2020 at the New Jersey Music Educators Conference in Atlantic City, NJ. Students from all over the New Jersey area in both middle and high school divisions submitted original compositions in various instrumental and vocal orchestrations. Finalists were interviewed by competition judge and NJ-YCC Committee member Serge Puchinsky of Bayonne, NJ. Judges of the competition also included Patrick Burns (Montclair State University), Scott Ordway (Rutgers University), Bruce Yurko (Rowan University), and Bob Frampton (Past-President, NAfME Eastern Division, Retired). Finalists included the following students:

1st Place: "Symphonic Scherzo in D minor" – Ben Janisze wski, Hilltop Country Day School Finalist: "Evening Blues" – Nathanael Gaw, Fernwood Av enue Middle School Finalist: "Soon (The Incident)" – Mikayla Marinelli, Crockett Middle School

Recordings of each finalists' compositions are now posted on the NJMEA website. Applications for the 202021 competition will also be posted on the website in the Fall of 2020. Congratulations to all who participated, and we look forward to receiving more exemplary submissions for our next competition.

We are also looking for volunteers to participate in the organization of next year's competition. You do not need to be a professional composer to be part of the committee. If you would like further information, please contact Dr. Andrew Lesser at andrew.lesser@yahoo.com.

1st Place: "Future City" – Emily Ta, East Brunswick High School Finalist: "Everest" – Jessie Liang, West Windsor-Plains boro High School South Finalist: "Soar!" – Joseph Marta, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School

Finalists of the 11th Annual New Jersey Young Composers Competition From left: Mr. Serge Puchinky, Session Clinician, Joseph Marta, Emily Ta, Jessie Liang, Ben Janiszewski, Mikayla Marinelli, Nathanael Gaw, Dr. Andrew Lesser, NJ-YCC Chairman.