BMI Student Composer Awards
The BMI Student Composer Awards are a music competition for young classical composers . They were launched in 1951 and have developed into one of the most prestigious competitions for young composers in the Western world . They are financed by the American collecting society Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). The composition advisory board currently includes John Adams , Del Bryant , Elliott Carter , George Crumb , Susan Feder , Ralph Jackson , Lalo Schifrin , Gunther Schuller and Joseph Schwantner . The chairman is the composer and pianist Ellen Taaffe Zwilich . Applicants must be of Western nationality and be enrolled in a conservatory. The age limit is 28 years. The winners include: John Adams, William Bolcom , Sidney Corbett , George Crumb, Mario Davidovsky , Eric Ewazen , Aaron Jay Kernis , Stefan Lano , David Macdonald , William Thomas McKinley , John Mills-Cockell , Lowell Liebermann , Tobias Picker , Christopher Rouse , Anton Rovner , Joseph Schwantner and Charles Wuorinen .