Flute Choir Call for Scores

Submission Requirements & Guidelines

All of the following requirements must be met for competition consideration. The NFA reserves the right to disqualify any submission that fails to follow these rules of eligibility:

General Guidelines:

• By submitting an entry to this competition, you are attesting that the work has not yet been performed at a National Flute Association Convention.
• Winning composers are eligible to submit scores again after an interval of three years (e.g., the 2022 winning composer may submit again in 2026).
• Entrants waive all broadcast and recording rights to the convention premiere performance.
• The composition remains property of the composer.
• Entries are limited to two per composer, per year. 

Submission Requirements:

• Compositions must be no longer than twelve minutes
• Any identifying composer or copyright information must be removed from submitted scores, parts, and sound files or recordings. Submissions are judged anonymously. 
• Materials for Upload:
  • Score & Parts - Entrants must provide one PDF copy of the score AND parts.
    • Works must include a minimum of six parts
    • Any combination of instrumentation from the flute family may be used: piccolo, C flute, alto flute, bass flute, and contrabass flute.
    • No other non-flute instruments or electronic tracks may be used.
    • If the score as originally conceived by the composer includes any other acoustic instruments, or a pre-recorded electronic part, the composer must include replacement or substitute part(s) to be played by a member of the acoustic flute family.
  • Recording - Entrants must provide an electronic sound file (MP3, M4A, WAV, or midi) or a recording of the submitted work.
    • The recording of the work should use only members of the flute family, synthesized flute voices, or string voices, as suggested in the information in Additional Submission Suggestions below.
  • Paragraph - Entrants must provide a paragraph explaining your composition or inspiration for the work.

Additional Submission Suggestions:
The score may or may not be transposed, but the parts should be appropriately transposed. (Make careful note of the instrument ranges and response tendencies.) The recordings may use the synthesized flute voices from notation programs, but the low flute voices are generally not well represented.  Using synthesized voices which are equal at all pitches, such as string voices, gives a clear picture of the harmonic texture, and makes up for the deficits in the low flute voices. Also, be sure to adjust the audio mix in appropriate proportions for the flute choir--i.e., emphasize the bass and reduce the piccolo and c flutes when creating the recording.