The Rivers Awards Composition Competition (RACC) aims to promote extensive exchange between Chinese and Western music, encouraging innovative and explorative composition for Chinese and Western musical instruments, and build a high-end platform to introduce outstanding original musical works to the public.

Host: Shanghai Conservatory of Music（SHCM）

Organizer: The Composition and Conducting Department at Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Jury: The jury panel will consist of experts and professors from prestigious Chinese and international music institutions

1.A positive theme that embodies the spirit of the contemporary era is a basic requirement for the entries of this competition, which should be created with novel methods and rich in artistic appeal.

2.This competition is open to participants under the age of 40 (born after January 1, 1985) regardless of their nationality, location and profession. Professional composers, teachers or students specializing in composition are all welcomed. There is no participation fee required for the application.

3.The submission must be composed for a mixture of listed Chinese and Western musical instruments (targeting a number of three to nine performers in total). The ensemble set must imperatively include at least one Chinese instrument with one Western instrument from below:

One Dizi-bamboo flute (doubling Xiao), one Pipa, one Erhu, one piano (excluding prepared piano), two violins, one viola, one cello, one double bass (four-strings)

*It is important to note that pre-recorded music or electronic music compositions will not be accepted

4.The duration of the music should be 5-8 minutes and be marked clearly on the first page of the score.

5.The compositions submitted for this competition should be of original music work composed by each participant him/herself that has not been officially published or awarded. Each participant should provide a clean and clear score of his/her composition anonymously. Explanations are necessary for special requirements on performing techniques or forms. If any sign or mark made on the score that has no relation to the work itself, the participant would be disqualified immediately.

6.Required application materials (must be in the electronic form and sent by e-mail) include:

i) One clean and clear score by the participant (PDF only)

ii) One filled-out participation form that is signed by the participant him/herself

iii) One front-facing 2-inch photo of the participant taken recently (33mmX49mm)

iv) One piece of valid ID copy (could be the National Identification Card or Passport) that contains a photo and the exact date of birth of participant

Please email all these electronic documents mentioned above to the Organizing Committee at racc@shcmusic.edu.cn before the deadline.

7.All the required materials must be submitted by e-mail before 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 29th, 2025. Participants may contact the Organizing Committee if they have any questions or enquiries.

8.Participant who doesn’t meet the above requirements will be disqualified (Members of the jury panel and the organizing committee are not allowed to take part in the competition). All materials submitted will be kept on file by the host and will not be returned.

Contact Information:

The Organizing Committee of the 14th Rivers Awards Composition Competition,

The Composition and Conducting Department, Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Address: Room 212, HongFeng Building A, No. 20 Fenyang Rd., Shanghai, China

Office of the 14th Rivers Awards Composition Competition

Email: racc@shcmusic.edu.cn

Post Code: 200031

Website：https://www.riversawards.cn

Contact person: WANG Chen

1.To ensure fairness of the competition, all the composition works will be numbered and sealed up before selection.

2.The competition will be divided into two stages. The preliminary round will be based on the submitted scores and eight finalists will be selected. The finals will take place in the form of a final live performance, where the award-winning compositions will be selected and announced. Due to the seriousness and authoritativeness of the competition, certain awards will be left vacant if no composition meets the grading criteria.

3.The awards for competition are categorized as follows:

Award

（Awarded a commission fee by the organizing committee） Quota Amount of the prize (Tax included)

First Prize 1 $ 10,000 USD

Second Prize 2 $ 5,000 USD

Third Prize 3 $ 1,500 USD

Finalist Prize 2 $ 1,000 USD

4.The organizing committee will sign a composition commission contract with the winners.

1.The finalists must ensure their attendance at the final live concert and the summit forum of Rivers Awards-Winning works. The travel expenses of finalists and their accommodation costs in Shanghai during the competition period shall be borne by the host organization.

2.The RACC Final Live Concert

Date: Thursday, November 20, 2025 | 19:30

Venue: He Lvting Concert Hall, Shanghai Conservatory of Music

3.The final concert concluded with the immediate announcement of the judging results and the subsequent award ceremony.

1.Basic Information:

i)Time: Friday, November 21, 2025, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM

ii)Venue: Room 2-1, Hongfeng Building A

iii)Participants: competition finalists, jury members, performers, teachers and students at the Department of Composition and Conducting, and other conferees

2.Summit Agenda:

i)Speeches by the representative of the organizer and the chairman of the jury panel

ii)Brief introduction of their works by prize winners (five minutes for each)

iii)Comments and discussions on prize-winning works by jury members

iv)Comments and discussions on prize-winning works by conductors and performers

v)Communication and idea-exchange among conferees, including the competition finalists, jury members, conductors, performers, teachers and students of the Composition and Conducting Department

vi)Closing speech by the representative from organizer, and the release of competition information for the 15th RACC in the following year.

1.Relevant Rights:

i)The award winner holds the copyright of the winning composition.

ii)The award winner must agree to grant the following rights to the Host free of charge:

a)The organizer has the right to use the award-winning composition or any other forms of audio-visual products for non-commercial purpose.

b)The organizer has the right to premiere the award-winning composition and the priority to publish and perform the winning composition.

iii)Each award-winning composition, regardless of when and wherever it is performed, should be noted as “a *** prize-winning composition of the 14th Rivers Awards Composition Competition (2025)” on the score cover or the program list of a concert.

For example:

This work has won the 3rd Prize at the 14th Rivers Award International Composition Competition, 2025

2.The decision on the result of the competition made by the jury panel should be hold as final and definitive.

3.There are two appendixes attached to this document, including a registration form (Annex I, which needs to be filled out and submitted) and an introduction of Chinese instruments and pitch range table (Annex II, for reference only).

4.The right of interpretation of the above provisions is vested in the Organizing Committee.