The British Youth Band Association (BYBA) celebrate their golden anniversary in 2024. To mark the occasion, they are launching a special Composition Competition to find a new march.
History
The British Youth Band Association was formed in 1974 by David Loader, Johnny Johnson and Glen Carter. The Association initially started off via the BYBA Notebook magazine, which was distributed amongst the banding community, before later setting up rules to standardise the running of contests, judging, and scoring. BYBA also introduced national divisions and classes, culminating in the league table and scoring systems that we see today.
Competition
BYBA are looking for a new march to be played throughout their semi-centennial year. The piece will primarily be played as bands march onto retreat, although it would be great to have the piece performed as much as possible throughout 2024 and beyond!
Entries should be suitable for a street parade (2 or 4 strong beats to a bar, and not too fast!). They should be no longer than 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Scoring
Ideally, your entry would be scored so it is playable for a wide range of ensemble (bugle band, show band, drum corps, and anything in between!). However, if you are not comfortable writing for such a diverse ensemble, write for what you are comfortable with. If your composition is selected, BYBA will work with you to fill out the missing parts.
Entries
To enter, submit a PDF score and MP3 audio via email to compose@byba.online by Wednesday 31st August at 11:59pm.
After this date, a panel of judges will review all the entries. The winning composition will be announced at Finals 2022, with the music being reviewed and distributed to bands in 2023 so it can be ready for performance in 2024.