Are you a female composer?

Competition Requirements

We are excited to invite you to submit your work for the Women in Brass New Work Contest 2025, an opportunity for female composers to contribute to the brass band genre. Below are the detailed requirements and guidelines for this competition:

Eligibility:

Gender: Open to female composers only.

Composition Specifications:

• Concert Work: The composition must be written for concert performance by a brass band.

• Duration: The work should be between 3 to 7 minutes in length.

• Instrumentation: The piece must be written for standard brass band instrumentation, with the addition of up to 4 percussionists.

Submission Guidelines:

• Score: Submit the full score of your work in PDF format.

• Recording: Include a recording of the composition (either real or synthesized). A synthesized recording is acceptable for this stage of the competition.
  

Performance and Copyright Guidelines:

• Premiere Performance: The winning composition will be performed by Women in Brass at their 2026 concert and recorded live.

• Premiere Restrictions: The work must not be performed publicly, nor should any recordings be distributed or published, until it is officially premiered by Women in Brass.

Submission:

Date: The final deadline for submissions is September 15, 2025.
Cost: $50 AUD

We look forward to hearing your innovative and inspiring works. The winner will have the honour of seeing their composition performed at Women in Brass’s 2026 concert.

Thank you for your participation. We can’t wait to hear your work!

Judging Panel

Your composition will be judged by the following esteemed panel of professionals:

• Maureen Cameron – Women in Brass Musical Director.
Maureen is considered a leading music Educator and Conductor. She’s performed and played with some of the best brass ensembles in the world - CWS Glasgow Band, Fodens (10 years), Cairns Brass (conductor 10 years) and most recently, Sydney City Brass. Having performed under the most influential and leading conductors of our time, she’s competed at the highest level winning State, National, and International championship competitions. Playing, conducting and adjudicating is a passion for Maureen, and she is regarded as a leading music education specialist, having been recipient to several awards, most notably BBC Teacher of the Year, Cairns Regional Council, International women’s day Scholarship recipient and Australia Day, Cultural Award (Cairns) 2024. Maureen is thrilled to work in partnership with Women In Brass as Musical Director and is delighted to be invited on the panel of adjudicators for this prestigious New Work Competition.

• Dorethy Gates – Composer, Conductor, Educator

Dorothy Gates was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dorothy is the Senior Music Producer for The Salvation Army’s Eastern Territory in New York and has been the Composer-in-Residence for the New York Staff Band since 2002. Dorothy is the first woman Composer/Editor to be employed by The Salvation Army in this role. She plays trombone with the New York Staff Band, and just recently completed ten years as the Director of the New York Staff Band Chorus. Dorothy received her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Trombone Performance from Queens University Belfast, Master of Music degree in Trombone Performance from the University of Michigan and her PhD in Composition from the University of Salford.

• Sean O'Boyle AM – Performer, Conductor, Composer, Producer, Musical Director

Sean O'Boyle AM is a UK based Australian composer/conductor/educator, who splits his time between the UK and his native land of Australia. His compositions have been performed and or recorded by all the major Australian orchestras including the Sydney, Melbourne , Adelaide, Tasmanian, West Australian and Queensland Symphony Orchestras and by European Orchestras including; Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique Divertimento. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra and by North American orchestras including the Dallas, Lexington, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.

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