Composition CompetitionThe IMEA Composition Competition is an annual competition that offers young Indiana composers (grades six through college) the opportunity to have their work evaluated by established composers/educators who provide written feedback. This event is designed to help these young composers learn and grow as creative musical thinkers. The winning composers are recognized at the Professional Conference in January. 2026 Gold Rating RecipientsName: Gavin Powell Composition Title: “Into the Dust” Sample of Composition: Recording Excerpt Division: 2026 Middle School Division, Band School: Avon Middle School North Teacher: Heather Roth Bio: Gavin Powell is a fourteen-year-old French hornist and incoming freshman at Avon High School, where he will perform as a member of both the Avon Wind Symphony and the Avon Symphony Orchestra. Gavin's musical journey began at the age of three with violin studies, later expanding to include piano at age six, French horn at eleven, and trumpet at thirteen. In 2026, he served as the Principal French Horn in the Indiana Junior All-State Band. Gavin discovered a deep passion for composition as a seventh-grade student, completing his first original piece in February 2025. Through his writing, he enjoys exploring new musical concepts, telling stories through sound, and sharing meaningful musical experiences with others. About the Piece: Into the Dust is a 3 minute and 30 second musical journey that follows a lone cowboy crossing a vast and unforgiving desert in search of purpose and belonging. Along the way, he encounters obstacles, uncertainty, and moments of doubt that challenge his resolve. Despite these hardships, he continues onward, driven by the belief that something meaningful awaits beyond the horizon. The music reflects both the beauty and difficulty of the journey. At times, musical ideas align effortlessly, creating a sense of confidence and forward momentum. Elsewhere, overlapping rhythmic layers and shifting textures introduce tension and unpredictability, mirroring the uncertainty of the cowboy's path. As the journey unfolds, these contrasting elements gradually give way to a sense of fulfillment and discovery. Though set in the American frontier, Into the Dust serves as a metaphor for life's challenges. It explores the idea that perseverance through adversity can lead to growth, purpose, and the realization that the destination is often made meaningful by the journey itself. Name: Russell Becker Composition Title: “Eulogy of Unfavored Royalty” Sample of Composition: Recording Excerpt Division: 2026 High School Division, Chamber School: Homestead High School Teacher: Jonathan Young Bio: My name is Russell Becker, and I am a 17 year old composer who has been writing music for over 3 years. To date, five of my compositions have been performed live, including four through the JCA Composer Academy and one organized and performed with students at my high school during a school event. I am passionate about composing, and I strive to express that passion through every piece I write. About the Piece: Eulogy of Unfavored Royalty features a calm start which shows the respect of the funeral and for the dead person, followed by dissonant and offbeat chords to show the hatred for the deceased "unfavored royalty". as the piece develops it begins a section going through the instruments which gives a sense of everybody paying their respects until the tuba starts an accelerando which gives a sense of the building hatred among the people as they join in their hatred against the dead one. Finally, the piece ends peacefully and quietly as they finally close the casket and leave all of the hatred behind. Name: Andrew Davelaar Composition Title: “The Washer and The Dryer” Sample of Composition: Recording Excerpt Division: 2026 High School Division, Chamber School: Homeschooled Teacher: Dr. Matthew Speiker Bio: Andrew Davelaar has been playing the viola for nine years and just finished his third and final year as a first desk violist in the Youth Symphony Orchestra of East Central Indiana (YSOECI), which he joined shortly after moving to Fishers in 2020. Growing up in central Arkansas, Andrew enjoyed playing with his parents and brother in a string quartet at fall festivals, fundraisers, and other community activities. Besides the viola, Andrew has pursued acting, singing, tap dancing, piano, and composing. Next fall, Andrew plans to enroll at Taylor University in Upland, IN, to study computer science, voice, and theatre. About the Piece: The Washer and The Dryer is a viola duet written for the composer’s final annual YSOECI Chamber Concert and was performed at this concert on May 1st, 2026, by Andrew Davelaar on first viola and Tanner Vaughn on second viola. The Washer and The Dryer is split into two distinct sections, each with its own personality. The first section, a quick waltz, is written to mimic the calm, gentle whirring of a washing machine, and the second section, a fast jig, is inspired by the rapid rotations of a dryer. Name: Colten Fetty Composition Title: “Dragosha” Sample of Composition: Recording Excerpt Division: 2026 High School Division, Jazz Band School: Anderson High School Teacher: Richard Geisler Bio: I started music later than most if my peers in 8th grade. I did not originally enojy it, but my older brother convinced me to do marching band. I actually enjoyed marching band with thw highschoolers alot, and over the past for yours climbed up to first trumpet ever since I was a juinor. This combined with my experence as lead trumpet in jazz, brought me to love music so I decied to write a song. We played this song for my schools swing dance, and now It is what i am going to pursue in college. About the Piece: Dragosha is a contemporary jazz ballad for a big band with crunchy harmonies, and unexpected turnaround. It also features a meduim swing section, and multiple solos. Name: Milo Savage Composition Title: “Double Bass Concerto in B Minor” Sample of Composition: Recording Excerpt Division: 2026 High School Division, Full Orchestra School: Fishers High School Teacher: Julie Armey Bio: Milo Savage is a composer, bassist, and educator from Fishers, Indiana. From a very young age, he was surrounded by music (particularly Tchaikovsky), because his parents are both musicians. He started the cello in second grade but quit to pursue the double bass instead. He started composition in 7th grade and has composed many works, some even played by his school orchestra. He hopes to go into a career in performance, but will still compose on the side. About the Piece: The Concerto is the result of years of writing solo bass works, and what I consider my real addition to the repertoire. The melodies for each movement were carefully crafted and spun through complex development sections, using unique harmonies that create colorful sections of music. It started as a smaller Sonata, but it was clear that the scale of music I wanted could only be expressed through a full orchestra. If that wasn’t enough, I threw in an absolutely diabolical measure of 6/7 time into the last movement to cement this work as a true culmination of my musical career. Name: Milo Savage Composition Title: “Nathan's Variathans” Sample of Composition: Recording Excerpt Division: 2026 High School Division, String Orchestra School: Fisher High School Teacher: Julie Armey Bio: Milo Savage is a composer, bassist, and educator from Fishers, Indiana. From a very young age, he was surrounded by music (particularly Tchaikovsky), because his parents are both musicians. He started the cello in second grade but quit to pursue the double bass instead. He started composition in 7th grade and has composed many works, some even played by his school orchestra. He hopes to go into a career in performance, but will still compose on the side. About the Piece: One day while I was directing an orchestra club rehearsal, my friend Nathan was bored and was experimenting with harmonics. He came up with this silly little motif, which everyone started to play throughout the next couple weeks. I was eventually told (as a joke) to write a Theme and Variations on the motif. The result was this piece, a fun set of Variathans dedicated to each member of the club that was disrupting rehearsal by playing the motif. Name: Milo Savage Composition Title: “Suite for Solo Cello in E Minor” Sample of Composition: Recording Excerpt Division: 2026 High School Division, Instrumental Solo School: Fishers High School Teacher: Julie Armey Bio: Milo Savage is a composer, bassist, and educator from Fishers, Indiana. From a very young age, he was surrounded by music (particularly Tchaikovsky), because his parents are both musicians. He started the cello in second grade but quit to pursue the double bass instead. He started composition in 7th grade and has composed many works, some even played by his school orchestra. He hopes to go into a career in performance, but will still compose on the side. About the Piece: The Cello Suite is a modern take on Bach’s Suites. As I have worked on performing the Suites on bass, the idea came to write a Cello Suite of my own in the best key, E Minor. I blended traditional ideas of form with romantic harmonies and unconventional rhythms to create a unique suite that is fun to listen to and perform. Some of the movements are more typical in their craft, like the Menuets and Sarabande, and some are more interesting and diverge from the typical idea of a suite, like the Prelude and Portrait.
Name: Rosendo Schwartz Composition Title: “Je ne sais quoi” Sample of Composition: Recording Excerpt Division: 2026 High School Division, Chamber School: William Henry Harrison High School Teacher: Tyler Simpson Bio: My name is Rosendo Schwartz, and I'm a pianist, composer, piano technician, and ensemble director from William Henry Harrison High School, based in Evansville, Indiana. My composing journey began somewhere around my Freshman year of high school, writing music for the piano. During my Sophomore year I decided to put together a little chamber wind ensemble of friends from school and write music for them, and since then that group has grown in size and skill level, and is who I've mostly been writing music for since then. About the Piece: At the start of this project, my goal was to write a piece that would be both enjoyable and challenging for the ensemble, particularly with several great players having joined the group for the semester we were working on it. As the composition developed, however, its primary inspiration had shifted to my girlfriend, who is a member of the ensemble and performs in this work. It is therefore dedicated to her, whose support and presence became an important source of inspiration throughout the writing process. |