Submission Deadline: January 15, 2026
Inquiries or Submission of Materials:
ram.nyc.info@gmail.com


Random Access Music (RAM) and the Queens New Music Festival are pleased to announce its 2026 Composition Competition.

RAM seeks new concert music for trio (clarinet, cello, piano). The RAM Players will perform the winning composition(s), judged by our RAM panel, at RAM’s Queens New Music Festival held in Queens, NY. Festival dates: May, 2026.

RAM is proud to continue our tradition of a no-fee, anonymous Composition Competition. There are no age, gender, or geographic limitations as to who may submit a score. A facilitator receives the scores and presents them anonymously to a panel of judges comprised of the composer and performer members of RAM.

Composition Competition Requirements
Submission Deadline: January 15, 2026.
Announcement of winner(s): February 15, 2026.

Submissions are anonymous and composers MUST remove their names, and any other identifying information, on any pages in the score.

Instrumentation: Trio (clarinet, cello, piano).

Entry Fee: 0.00

There are no age or geographic requirements for submitting composers.

The work should be 6-20 minutes in length.

The work may NOT have been previously awarded a prize in any contest or competition, though it MAY have been premiered or recorded elsewhere.

The work must have been written in the past 10 years.

Works requiring electronics are eligible provided any required technology, including playback devices, mics, cables, stands, speakers, etc., are supplied and operated by the composer or the composer’s representative.

Although we cannot fund travel or hotel costs, RAM strongly encourages and welcomes the submitting composers to plan to attend the concert and rehearsals.

An archival video and audio of the performance will be available to the winning composer(s).

We are ONLY accepting submissions electronically, as PDF files only.

Be sure to remove your name from any pages it appears on in the PDF (cover, interior, instructions, program notes, copyright, etc.). Failure to OMIT your name will result in disqualification.


Submission Materials: (please no Word or Text documents, PDF only)
– 1 PDF Score
– Email should include composer’s full name, address, phone number (or WhatsApp, Line, etc.).
– Recordings (mp3 ONLY please) – live or MIDI realizations – may be sent but are not required.
Failure to adhere to the submission guidelines will result in the work’s disqualification.

Random Access Music (RAM) conducts an anonymous Composition Competition call for scores each year. A facilitator, who is the only person to see your emails, receives the scores and presents them anonymously to the panel of judges comprised of the composer and performer members of RAM.

Previous winners have included Matt Mason, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, and Xinyang Wang.

More information about Random Access Music and the Queens New Music Festival:
https://www.ram-nyc.org/
https://www.ram-nyc.org/queens-new-music-festival



Submission Deadline: January 15, 2026.
PLEASE SUBMIT MATERIALS (or any questions) to ram.nyc.info@gmail.com