The Lithuanian Composers’ Union and the Jauna Muzika Choir of Vilnius Municipality have a pleasure of inviting young composers to the 17th edition of the Vox Juventutis Competition which is now open for higher grade school pupils and music students, including undergraduates, masters and PhDs. 

Below is the prize money for the best pieces.
First prize: 600 euros
Second prize: 400 euros
Third prize: 200 euros

Additional awards:
- The piece enjoyed most by the members of the Jauna Muzika Choir
- The audience prize

One, two or three of the awarded pieces are to be released as sheet music and part of the Vox Juventutis Series.

Selection criteria for the first stage of the competition:
1) proper understanding of the potential of human voice and a choir 
2) music’s interaction with performers and would-be listeners 
3) informative and proper notation 
4) thematic coherence (see this year’s theme below)

All music presented by the participants is to be assessed by a five-member professional jury selected by the organisers. Any decision of the jury is deemed final and may not a subject to any kind of appeal. 

This year’s theme is spatial solutions and multi-choral facture: a double or triple choir; a choir with soloists; separate groups of singers located in different areas of the church; movement of individual groups of choir members or soloists. The participants are expected to submit pieces written with the specific venue in mind, the Saint Catherine Church in Vilnius which has a stage, a balcony and a pulpit. A guided tour of the church is to be arranged in April for all registered applicants.

Participants are expected to compose a cappella music for a mixed choir, the top limit of individual voices being eleven (SSSAAATTBBB). The use of percussion instruments (drums, tambourines, castanets, triangles, bells etc.) is allowed given they are played exclusively by choir members. The duration of a piece should not exceed five minutes. Only Lithuanian, English and Latin texts should be used.

The originality of composer’s solution is the top priority, but applicants should keep individual voice lines and the overall facture of their music simple enough with an average amateur choir in mind.

All applicants must email a simple letter stating their intent to take part to info@lks.lt, the deadline being 25 March 2023.

Vaclovas Augustinas, the composer and artistic director of the Jauna Muzika Choir, will be available for consultation between March 25 and April 25 to all participants. He should be contacted by phone (+370 687 16572) or email (augustinus917@gmail.com).

Final versions of sheet music and demo recordings should be sent to info@lks.lt before 11.59 pm 25 April 2023.

Once the decision is taken as to the pieces to be performed at the concert, the respective composers are expected to take part in all choral rehearsals the dates of which will be made public later.

The concert and the award ceremony are scheduled for 10 June 2023 at the Saint Catherine Church in Vilnius. The concert is to be recorded.

The competition is run by the Jauna Muzika Choir of Vilnius Municipality and the Lithuanian Composers’ Union in partnership with the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and the Municipality of Vilnius.