BLUE HILL — All Maine students, high school age and younger, who have an interest in composing original music are eligible to take part in the Young

Composer’s Competition.

All entries are due on Feb. 10. Since 1996, the Bagaduce Music Lending Library in Blue Hill has been holding this competition to encourage the youth of Maine to express their creativeness and imagination through music. All musical styles from classical to rock and anything in between are welcome. 

The entries are grouped by age. Category I includes age 13 and younger; Category II includes age 14 through high school. Three cash prizes are awarded in each age group: $200, $125 and $75. All participants receive a Certificate of Award and a written critique of their composition from a panel of expert judges.

The final event of the competition is a Young Composers’ Festival in Blue Hill on April 26. Young composers, their families and music teachers are invited to the festival. The purpose of this festival is to give the young composers an opportunity to perform their compositions, meet one another and to discuss their compositions individually with the distinguished judges.

All compositions submitted to the competition will become part of the Music Library’s Maine Collection. This official state archive contains nearly 3,000 works by Maine lyricists and composers, including pieces by R.B. Hall, Frank Churchill, Werner Torkanowsky, Walter Piston and Noel Paul Stookey.

Complete guidelines and entry forms are available on the library’s website, www.bagaducemusic.org. Click on the “Events” link for the information. Mail submissions to Bagaduce Music Lending Library, Attn.: Young Composers, P.O. Box 829, Blue Hill, ME 04614. To contact the library, call 374-5454 or email [email protected].