VOICES is holding its 19^th annual music composition contest for children.

"...a great opportunity for children to develop their musical talent and get feedback from a professional composer."

Since 1987, the VOICES Music Composition Contest for Children has provided over 350 young composers with the impetus to write music. The composition program also provides song-writing workshops led by Lynne Ransom and other VOICES members for local children, and opportunities for classroom and piano teachers to make music theory concrete and to stimulate creative thinking. All children who enjoy music are encouraged to attend and participate.

VOICES Chorale invites children ages 5 to 12 to compose and submit a Winter Song for possible performance. The song can be about anything relating to winter, such as the Holidays, snow, sledding, ice skating, or making a snowman. This is a great opportunity for children to develop their musical talent and be involved in one of VOICES' upcoming popular Holiday concerts:

• Sunday, December 9, 3 PM at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Southampton, PA
• Friday, December 21, 8 PM at Pennington Presbyterian Church, Pennington, NJ
• Saturday, December 22, 8 PM at All Saints Episcopal Church, Princeton, NJ

Children's songs should be written down in any kind of notation (formal or invented) and submitted on cassette or CD-R recording, along with three written copies. Include the child's name and age, assisting adult's name, phone number, address and mail to:

VOICES Composition Contest
P.O. Box 404
Pennington, NJ 08534

Deadline for submissions is December 1, 2007. For more information, please visit our website at www.voiceschorale.org or call Barbara Weinfield at 609-462-4984.

Free Songwriter's Workshops for Children ages 5-12 will be announced in 2008. Children who enjoy music are encouraged to attend these workshops. They improvise rhythms based on poems and chants and create melodies from short phrases. Topics are those of interest to children: food, animals, parents, vehicles, funny situations, etc., and the children learn how to create rhythmic accompaniment. Selected compositions will be performed at VOICES concerts.