Student Initiatives
The Choral Project’s Rachel Moore Composition Contest is underway!
The Choral Project’s Rachel Moore Composition Contest is open to high school students (grades 9-12) and undergraduate college students. The competition is designed to encourage the creation of original works for choir and to enable new collaboration between performers and composers. Click here to learn more about the contest’s beloved namesake, Rachel Moore.
“I was blown away by the choir! Truly inspiring and amazing.”
— Charles Frost, Santa Clara Vanguard
Past Rachel Moore Composition Contest Winners
2023-24 Winners
First Place: “Elevation” by Caden Marshall (Cedar City, UT)
Second Place: “Rise, and Journey On” by Christopher Lewis (Carrollton, GA)
Third Place: “Rise Up” by David Zimmerman (Hilliard, OH)
2022-23 Winners
First Place: NO PRIZE AWARDED
Second Place: “In May” by Wesley Coffin (Harpswell, ME)
Third Place: “Quiet Night Thoughts” by Calvin Rice (Lake Forest Park, WA)
2021-22 Winners
First Place: “Anyway” by Seth Waldron (Newark, DE)
Second Place: “The Elysian Fields” by Brayden Carr (Round Rock, TX)
Third Place: “Windy Nights” by Frazar Henry (Bonita Springs, FL)
2020-21 Winners
First Place: “Breathe” by Coleman Peterson (Sioux Falls, SD)
Second Place: “Wait With Me” by Coleman Peterson (Sioux Falls, SD)
Third Place: “Oaks and Roses” by Anuj Bhutani (Houston, TX)
2019-20 Winners
First Place: “The Song You Sing To Me” by Justin Torzala (Appleton, WI)
Second Place: “Music to Hear” by Jonathan Madden (Northfield, MN)
Third Place: “Love is a Bright Light” by Kt Allenbaugh (Westminster, MD)
2018-19 Winners
First Place | TIE: “The Beauty of Cosmic Things” by Ethan R. Gonzalez Soledad, (Miramar, FL) + “When I Rise Up” by Benjamin S. Markin (Seattle, WA)
Second Place: NO PRIZE AWARDED
Third Place: “Daybreak” by Luke J. Gion (White Bear, MN)
2017-18 Winners
First Place: “Ma” by Kunal C. Gala (North Andover, MA)
Second Place: “Qazamat” by Hamid Alipor Shirazi (Bojnurd, Iran)
Third Place: “Dance of the Fairies” by Cathryn S. Davis (St. Paul, MN)
2016-17 Winners
First Place: NO PRIZE AWARDED
Second Place: “Run, Said the Sun” by Jonathan Daniel (Overland Park, KS)
Third Place: “For You Only” by Zoe Heflin (Parkersburg, WV)
2015-16 Winners
First Place: “Oom Ji Ji” by Benjamin Low (Brighton, MA)
Second Place: “Paris in Spring” by Douglas Byler (Dayton, VA)
Third Place: “Ave Maria” by Chase Shoemaker (Indianola, IA)
2014-15 Winners
First Place | TIE: “Incantation, Ritual and Dance” by Stephen Jackson (Abilene TX) + “A Prayer for the Future” by Jacob Devol (Richmond, VA)
Second Place: NO PRIZE AWARDED
Third Place: NO PRIZE AWARDED
2011-12 Winners
First Place: “Purple and Pearl” by Christian T. Martin (Cortland, NY)
Second Place: “Beneath the Wave” by Luke Flynn (Dubuque, IA)
Third Place: “Come To Me” by Matthew Emery (Vancouver, BC)
2010-11 Winners
First Place: “Grant Us Peace” by Stephen Feigenbaum (Winchester, MA)
Second Place: NO PRIZE AWARDED
Third Place | TIE: “The Western Shore” by Dale Sakamoto (Mission Viejo CA) + “The Dancer” by Nicolas Dahlquist (Lincoln, NE)
2009-10 Winners
First Place | TIE: “Pén Graté” by Matteo Giuliani (Bologna, Italy) + “Lullaby” by Daniel B. Elder (Athens, GA)
Second Place: NO PRIZE AWARDED
Third Place: “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Joseph D. Kelly
2008-09 Winners
First Place: “Song for the River” by Collin Martin (Coto de Caza, CA)
Second Place: “April” by Will Thomas (Rindge, NH)
Third Place: “October Sky” by Corey Smith (Temperance, MI)