2025 Holiday Party & Orchestration Challenge

Come celebrate the holidays with food, drinks and original music by our members!

Our orchestration challenge is back by popular demand, just in time for the holidays! This unique event offers our Los Angeles members the opportunity to have their orchestrations played by live musicians. On December 7th, we are hosting a holiday party and music showcase featuring a selection of original music submitted to our challenge. Composers that wish to enter the challenge will be given three holiday themes to choose from and they will arrange/orchestrate for our ensemble: clarinet, bassoon, horn, vibraphone, violin, cello, double bass. We will select around 15 orchestrations to be played through by a professional ensemble at our showcase! While we won’t have a live orchestration discussion at this event, we will still have the scores available for everyone to follow along.

After we listen to the compositions, we’ll  have our holiday celebration with dinner and drinks. Thank you for being part of our community. This party is open to ALL ASA members- no need to participate in the challenge to come celebrate with us. Purchase a ticket here! Please also purchase a General Admission ticket for any guests you bring.

This event will be held at a private residence in Eagle Rock. The exact address will be given to ticket holders closer to the event.

We’re are honored to have these the following musicians perform the orchestrations:
Conductor: Tim Davies
Violin: Paul Cartwright
Cello: Christine Kim
Clarinet: Ashley Jarmack
Bassoon: Leah Kohn
Horn: Aija Mattson Jovel
Bass: Abe Gumroyan
Percussion: Jamie Strowhiro
Contractor: Noah Gladstone

Sign in to your account to see your member discount code!

• $35 – General Admission (Guests of ASA Members)
• $30 – Chamber Members
• $20 – Orchestra
• $FREE – Philharmonic

ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

Deadlines

• Nov. 10 – Competition Opens – Sign up below!
• Nov. 30- Compositions Due – Submit your score, parts, and mockup here! Must have a gmail account to use the form.
• Dec. 3 – Selected composers notified
• Dec. 7 – Holiday Party and Music Showcase in Eagle Rock!

Entry Fee

• This challenge is free to enter, but a ticket is required to attend the event. Please sign up below and you’ll receive a link to download the melodic material.
• Get your event tickets here.

The Challenge

• Signing up for the challenge below with redirect you to a PDF with a choice of melodic material
• The melodic material is derived from these holiday tunes:
  • Auld Lang Syne
  • Carol of the Bells
  • Ba’nu Choshech Le’garesh
• You do not have to use the original rhythm, meter, or key of the tune.
• Harmony, textures, etc. are your chance to get creative.
• Please keep in mind that musicians will be sight-reading your composition. This is a music showcase, rather than a performance.
• Total duration cannot exceed 120 seconds.
• You must make use of the entire ensemble: clarinet, bassoon, horn, vibraphone, violin, cello, double bass

Score Preparation

• Composers are responsible for submitting PDFs (score and parts) and MP3 mockups by November 30. Submit your materials here!
• Page size – Letter
• Systems – at least 2 per page, with dividers
• Measure numbers – EVERY measure, readable, centered at the bottom, no need for boxes or enclosures.
• Rehearsal Letters – good idea
• Time Signatures – 3 staves high, on top staff and half way down, NO BIGGER
• If there is a pickup, make sure it is clear, do it properly, if you cheat, use a double bar.
• Keep distances the same between staves, do not let your program stretch it to cover a page when it does not need to.

Example 

• Parts
• Page Size – Letter
• Systems –  8 or 9 page 1, 10 page 2+
• Measure numbers – Top left and every multimeasure rest or every bar, underneath
• Rehearsal Letters – Good idea
• Multi-measure rests – Please break them at large phrase points, for example every 8 bars, do not have more than that as we are sightreading

Example

• Double stops – check them with a player.
• Vibes can use 4 mallets, but keep it simple, it will be sightread.
• Proof read! Have a friend check it all, NEVER send anything out into the world that has not had another pair of eyes on it.
• The ASA will print your score for the musicians.
• Your name can be on the score. Please also include your first and last name within the filename. Ex- ASAOrchestrationChallenge_FirstLastName.mp3
• Please indicate the holiday melody you used on the score.

Selection

• We will be selecting pieces based on creativity, use of ensemble, and readability of your score.
• Keep in mind that this is an educational event, so we will also consider the pieces that we can all learn from!
• We will not consider the production quality of your mockup when selecting pieces.
• The composers who are selected for performance are required to be present at our event on December 7th. Please make sure you have a ticket!
• You are still welcome to apply if your piece was performed at our previous Orchestration Challenge, but we will give priority to composers whose music wasn’t performed.

Legal

• All composers retain full rights to the piece they submit. The source melodic inspiration does not require any kind of attribution.
• Composers who submit a piece agree that the ASA has the right to feature the piece at ASA events, and may record and share the music and event publicly (principally, via its web site and social media networks).
• If the composer’s piece is performed live at an ASA event, the recording may not be used for commercial purposes.

Sign up for our Holiday Orchestration Challenge here!