Please join the National Endowment for the Arts and American Theatre Wing for a live webcast of the 2018 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge national competition. Watch the six finalists—one duo and five individuals–put their music and lyrics to the test and vie for the title of national songwriting champion. The competition is on April 23, 2018 from 6:00 -8:30 pm ET and streamed at arts.gov.
The national title comes with a $25,000 school scholarship courtesy of the National Music Publishers Association and their S.O.N.G.S. Foundation. The second place winner receives $10,000 contributed by BMI and the third place winner gets $5,000 courtesy of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. All finalists will have their song published by Samuel French, the world’s leading licensor and publisher of plays and musicals. Partnering with the NEA in the Songwriting Challenge is the American Theatre Wing along with collaborators Playbill, Inc. and Disney Theatrical Productions as well as the above-mentioned contributors.
The 2018 finalists listed here are featured with audio, video, and photo on the 2018 finalist web page.
- Eliza Corrington from Syracuse, Utah and Braxton Carr from Harrisville, Utah
- Tucker Donelan from New York, New York
- Jillian Guetersloh from Bedford, Massachusetts
- Fritz Hager from Flint, Texas
- Aaron Richert from New Orleans, Louisiana
- David Volpini from Macomb, Michigan
The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is a national competition for high school students who have a passion for writing songs that could be part of a musical theater production. The finalists were chosen by review panels of professional theater artists in a blind competition from almost 200 applications submitted by students in 36 states.
