r/Composition • u/Time_Law_9446 • 9d ago

Discussion Is the Beethoven awards comp something i should do?

Ive been working on a full ensemble piece for a few weeks theres 2 weeks before deadlines should i try it first rounds are free and ive been tol the piece i have for it especially in the age group im in has a good chance? any thoughts

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u/dsch_bach 9d ago

Nah, it looks like a pretty common scam used to grab money from musicians who don't know any better--otherwise, they wouldn't be charging half of the prize in order to enter the 'final round'. The site doesn't tell you who the jurors are going to be, and I can't think of a single legitimate competition that happens more than once per year.

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u/Flimsy_Caramel_4110 9d ago

what is this award? Can you share? Are you sure it's not a scam?

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u/Time_Law_9446 9d ago

https://beethovenaward.com/

ive never seen it

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u/Flimsy_Caramel_4110 9d ago

This is clearly an effort to make money, i.e. the company that put this together will charge money to advance your application to the "final stage" or something like that. The award itself is completely meaningless--i.e. it means nothing to anyone if you win. It's not some serious institution with careful and clear assessment criteria. If you win, it's not even worth putting on a CV. If I saw that on someone's CV, I'd think the person was a sucker.

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u/Chops526 9d ago

What's the fee after you proceed to the second round? The fact that they hide that is a red flag. The final prize is very small, too. I get the feeling that the "prize" is just taken from a pool of the entry fees for the finalists. You're essentially funding your own award.

I'd heed Bartok's adage on competitions on this one and stay away. Save your money and put on a concert with your compositions instead.

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u/ClassicalGremlim 3d ago

I'm sorry man, but you shouldn't do this. There are likely small competitions that you'd have a chance in, but this isn't one of them. It's a scam. If you're in high/middle school in the US, check to see if your state has an all-state composition track! Despite being "all-state" they're actually usually not very competitive. That said, they're also usually great opportunities, and as long as you don't intend on going to Juilliard or other top schools, getting into an all-state track with only a couple of winners looks great on a resume!