Participation Requirements




2020 AGBU Sayat Nova International Composition Competition

Works must be composed for a chamber ensemble of four (4) musicians, consisting of one kamancha, one tenor viola da gamba, one bass viola da gamba, and one male voice (spoken). The work must be performed within 8-10 minutes. The work can be a one or multimovement piece.


Works must include at least one quotation, in any form, from a text by Vahan Teryan in Armenian or translated into a Western language (i.e. English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or Russian).


Composers must be at least 18 years of age.


The AGBU Sayat Nova International Composition Competition is open to composers of all backgrounds and heritages.


Texts from Vahan Teryan can be found online and here

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS SEPTEMBER 7, 2021


Article 1


Special Prizes:
Carnegie Hall Award The work selected for the Carnegie Hall Award will premiere at the “AGBU Performing Artists in Concert” at the Weill Recital Hall in December 2021.


Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra Award: The Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra’s (ANPO) Award will be given to the first prize recipient. He or she will be commissioned to write an orchestral work that will premiere by the ANPO during the 2021/22 season.


ARmusic Publishing House Award: In collaboration with the Composers Union of Armenia, the top three prize winners of the Competition will get their winning works published by the Union’s ARmusic Publishing House in Yerevan.


Piano Teachers Congress of New York Award: The winner will be commissioned a work to be premiered at Carnegie Hall during the Piano Teachers Congress of New York's Honors Program Gala in November 2022.


Article 2

The subject of the Competition is a composition for a chamber ensemble of four (4) musicians, consisting of one kamancha, one 6-string tenor viola da gamba, one 6-string bass viola da gamba, and one male voice (spoken).


Submissions must include one quotation, in any form, from a text by Vahan Teryan in Armenian or translated into a Western language (i.e. English, German, French, Italian, Spanish or Russian).


The work must be performed within 8-10 minutes.


The work can be a one or multi-movement work.


Article 3

Submissions must be completely legible (score and separate parts) and uploaded as a PDF document at http://www.musicavatar.org/categories/2020-AGBU-Sayat-Nova-International-Composition-Competition/index.html


You will need to register for free at musicAvatar to submit. No registration fee or submission fee is required.


Submissions must be anonymous. No indication of the composer’s name can be on the score.


Submissions must be unpublished.


Previous winners of the competition cannot participate in the competition.


Article 4

Participants must submit by online submission at www.musicAvatar.org at the following link: http://www.musicavatar.org/categories/2020-AGBU-Sayat-Nova-International-Composition-Competition/index.html


You will need to create an account and login to submit. It is free to create an account and submit on musicAvatar.org


You will be asked for first and last name, primary email and login, password, performing rights organization (if applicable), address, city, state/province, postal (zip) code, and country.


After registering, select the opportunity listed as “2020 AGBU Sayat Nova International Composition Competition” and click the “submit” button to start the application.


Submissions must include title, composer’s name, instrumentation, comments/instructions on the presented work/performance notes, performing rights organization (if applicable), approximate duration, and biography.


Upload the score as a PDF file. No identifying marks of the composer should appear on the score.


Upload an optional sound file in mp3 file format. Audio files are preferred and strongly encouraged.


Successful submissions will receive notification by email.


Selected participants will be asked to provide the following:
Full name and a picture/headshot.
Photocopy of ID card (or equivalent document) indicating nationality and date and place of birth.
Full address, email and phone number.
Curriculum vitae in English.
Written consent to have the work published, performed and distributed must be included in the performance notes (see Article 10).
Optional Audio recordings are strongly encouraged. Only .mp3, .wav, and .aiff file formats are accepted for upload.
Selected participants will also be required to provide parts for their work.


Online Submission must be received by September 7th, 2021.
Any submissions received after this date will be rejected.


Article 5

The Administrative Commission will determine, possibly in the presence of a bailiff, if the submissions meet the conditions outlined in these regulations. It decides sovereignly of the admission of the works.


All the works that meet the conditions outlined in the regulations will be submitted to the jury.
The Competition will be conducted with a minimum of 20 submissions. Otherwise it shall be postponed.


AGBU also reserves the right to cancel or postpone the Competition due to force majeure. In the event of postponement or cancellation, so will the Awards and Special Prizes be subject to postponement or cancellation.


Article 6

The jury is composed of at least five members, including internationally renowned figures in the field of music. No member of the jury will be part of the Administrative Commission. The names of jury members will be announced on or before the awards ceremony.


Article 7

The amount of the Competition prizes is indicated in Article 1. The jury reserves the right to award first prize or no prize. The jury’s decision must be made by an absolute majority of its members. In case of a tie, the Chair will cast the deciding vote. Prizes cannot be divided.


Article 8

The jury's decisions are final. By participating in the Competition, each applicant accepts all of the articles cited in these regulations, and will not challenge them.


Article 9

Winning works might be digitally recorded and produced in limited quantities, though not marketed.

Winners consent to the broadcasting of their work on the radio and television to help promote the Competition.


Article 10

The winning work will remain the full property of the author.

Through submission of his/her application, the composer allows the publication, performance and distribution of his/her work, and does not hold rights (with the exception of copyright), especially in the case of the production and distribution of the work, as noted in Article 9.

In case the selected text by the composer is subject to copyright, a document certifying the free use of this text is required.


Article 11

Any litigation that may arise from these regulations lies within the exclusive jurisdiction of courts in the USA. Only English texts of the regulations are considered official.

These regulations, published in English, are subject to amendment and are also available and updated on the Competition’s website.

Only winners will be notified of the result. The names of the winners will be available on the website as early as September 2020.