New York Youth Symphony (EarShot) — Jon Deak First Music Program Call for Scores (2027/28)

The Jon Deak First Music Program commissions young composers across three tracks — orchestral, chamber, and jazz — paying a cash prize and following it with a performance at Interlochen Center for the Arts in summer 2028 (the program calls it a subsequent performance, not a premiere). Grand prizes are $3,000 for orchestral and $2,000 each for chamber and jazz, with second and third place in the orchestral and jazz tracks paying $1,500 and $1,000 respectively; seven awards go out each season. You need to be 30 or younger as of 1 December 2026, not have been through the program before, and be able to show you're legally eligible to work in the US using I-9-accepted documents. Each track has its own length and instrumentation rules — orchestral pieces run 5 to 10 minutes, chamber 7 to 10, jazz 5 to 7 for a specific 17-piece big band lineup — and you submit one piece per category as a typed PDF score (no handwritten scores) with an audio version, such as a MIDI mock-up or recording, plus a CV. A panel of composers with varied backgrounds scores entries on originality, technical proficiency, and orchestration before NYYS's artistic leadership confirms who joins the program. The deadline is 11 November 2026 at 11:59pm EST, with selections announced by early February 2027.