A new composition competition for works featuring a traditional Chinese instrument with western orchestra will culminate in concerts featuring the winning scores in New York and across China. The venue for the contest winners concert has been moved to December 19, 2022 in historic Carnegie Hall, New York City. Contest rules are available online. The competition is hosted by the Institute for Global Collaboration at Valparaiso University in cooperation with the Liu Tianhua and Abing Traditional Chinese Music Foundation of China, and the Wuhan Conservatory of Music.

Since the time of Confucius, music in China has served as a crucial element of organization in society, bringing people into a harmonious relationship. China’s chime bells, with their magnificent appearance and reverberating sound, vividly reflect the ageless wealth and profundity of Chinese culture and are an icon of Chinese music. The Golden Bells International Composition Competition will serve to introduce Chinese music and culture to America and the world and to promote cultural exchange.

For this contest, the featured instrument will be the ancient chime bells themselves, specifically, a 20-bell set of Dasheng Zhong cast by Bianzhong authority Dr. Li Youping, based on a surviving set from the Song dynasty. The bells can each produce two independent pitches, so the number of pitches available is 38 which include three octaves and a perfect fourth, ranging mostly chromatically from C3 to F6.

Submissions from 4 to 8 minutes in duration are invited internationally from all composers (except those associated with the competition or Valparaiso University) in two age categories: open, and age thirty and younger as of October 1, 2022. Winners in each category will receive a Grand Prize of $3500 plus public performance. A limited number of Judges Prizes of $1000 will also be awarded, as well as $200 participation awards for every score judged to be of merit. At least two works will be premiered in Carnegie Hall, New York City, on Dec. 29, 2022. Specifications for the bells and instrumentation of the orchestra are available with the contest rules. Questions may be sent to gbcompinfo@yahoo.com.

The change of venue allows an extended schedule. Submissions are now due September 1, 2022. The winning composers will be required to submit a full set of parts by November 1, 2022.

The Judges Panel includes five international composers experienced in Sino-American music collaborations and a professional Dasheng Zhong performer. The Advisory Board of composers, musicians, musicologists, and music activists includes distinguished composer Dr. Chen Yi, recipient of the Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The Golden Bells International Composition Contest reserves the right to first performance for the Grand Prize scores, as well as the right to present subsequent performances internationally. Valparaiso University and its Institute for Global Collaboration plan to archive and possibly publish the prize-winning works, with the rights to all other performances held by the composer.