The winning composers in the 2022 Creating Original Music Project (COMP) competition will receive awards and have their compositions performed at the COMP Festival on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at the University of Missouri in Columbia. The event, which will take place in Sheryl Crow Hall at the Sinquefield Music Center, will be free to the public.

The junior division concert, featuring works from elementary and middle school winners of this year’s competition, will take place from 11:30 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. The senior division concert of music by high school winners will follow from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.

In addition, both events will be livestreamed on the University School of Music’s YouTube channel. Throughout the day, the student composers and their families will also participate in private masterclasses, rehearsals, and coachings.

Now in its 17th year, COMP is an annual statewide competition sponsored by the University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative and funded by the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. COMP showcases new, original music from Missouri student composers and songwriters in grades K-12, offering positive recognition, prizes, performances, educational opportunities, and more.

For the competition, students in grades K-5 submitted compositions in two categories, Songs With Words and Instrumental. For grades 6-8, the categories were Fine Art Music and Popular Music, and for grades 9-12, the categories were Fine Art Music, Jazz, and Pop Music/Other Styles.

All entries are required to be original music written by the student, and only one entry per student is allowed. Both notated pieces and music made electronically are eligible. Arrangements of previously composed pieces or improvisation based on composed pieces are not accepted. Both the winning composers and their schools are awarded cash prizes,

Winners in high school also are eligible for scholarships to attend the Missouri Summer Composition Institute, which will take place in June 2022 on the Mizzou campus.

Here are the 2022 winners of the Creating Original Music Project (COMP) competition, listed by categories with their school information:

Elementary Division (K-5): Instrumental Music 

1^st  Reichen Bechtel, The Dark Dance, Keysor Elementary, Kirkwood.

2^nd  Conrad Crutchley, Raiding the Cookie Jar, Meramec Heights Elementary, Arnold.

3^rd  Owen Heimann, Palindrome, Ozark West Elementary School, Ozark.

Elementary Division (K-5): Song with Words 

1^st  Lacie Reetz, First Snow, Williamsburg Elementary, Williamsburg.

2^nd  Hannah Reetz, Dancin’ Dreams, Williamsburg Elementary, Williamsburg.

Middle School Division (6-8): Fine Art Music 

1^st  Nathan Crutchley, The Final Sunrise, Ridgewood Middle School, Arnold.

2^nd  Isabelle Ortis, The Seasons’ Song, Christian Fellowship School, Columbia.

Middle School Division (6-8): Pop Music 

1^st  Violet Martin, My Pap’s Song, North Callaway Middle School, Auxvasse.

2^nd  Madelyn Hazlett, Anything, Everything, Lawson Middle School, Lawson.

3^rd  Rebecca Ninemire, Hidden Oceans, Hawthorn Hill Elementary, Lee’s Summit.

High School Division (9-12): Fine Art Music  

1^st  Quincy Meyer, The March of the Cornstalks and the Soybean King of Westphalia, East Buchanan High School, Gower.

2^nd  Yueheng Wang, Fading Mirage, Ladue Horton Watkins High School, St. Louis.

3^rd  Eliot Blackmoore, Variations on a Theme by Bach, Clayton High School, Clayton.

High School Division (9-12): Pop Music 

1^st  Jordin MacKenzie, Reckless, Blue Valley North High School, Overland Park.

2^nd  Lucy Gray Hamilton, Living Through The Night, Park Hill South High School, Riverside.

3^rd  Ovya Diwakaran, Monopoly, Ladue Horton Watkins High School, St. Louis.

High School Division (9-12): Jazz Music 

1^st  Henry Rusten, Easy Does It, Central High School, Cape Girardeau.

2^nd  Yoell Tewolde, None Of It, Rock Bridge High School, Columbia.

3^rd  Elliott Bryant, Cafe Morning, Fulton High School, Fulton.