2026 Songwriting Contest

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Open for Submissions!

Songs of Joy, Justice & Community

In Celebration of 40 years of Womansong

Womansong is excited to announce a songwriting contest for our 40^th year, to celebrate our mission of “Singing together for Joy, Social Justice, and Community!”

We are now accepting submissions for an original song that celebrates one or more aspects of our mission’s themes. The song will be arranged for and performed by Womansong, Asheville’s premier social justice-oriented, treble-voice, community chorus. Our goal is to support songwriters in our region, as well as to increase the repertoire of choral music by, for, and about women.

Preference will be given to songwriters and composers living in the Western North Carolina region. The chosen winner will receive a stipend of $1,000 and the opportunity to perform the song with the chorus at our Spring 2027 concerts (usually held in May.)

In addition, we will promote the winning song nationally to other choruses in Sister Singers Network and GALA. Building on the legacy of the powerful women who have come before us, the voices of women* change the world, sending inspiring messages of hope and support through music composed and performed by women.

If desired, the experienced composers in Womansong will offer songwriting mentoring to the winner to polish the song. The songwriter will collaborate on (or simply approve) the choral arrangement (and accompaniment) of the winning song. The songwriter will retain ownership of the song (granting Womansong the right to arrange, perform, and possibly record it.)

Submission guidelines:

Submit by October 1, 2026.
Winner will be announced in early November 2026.
Premiere performance will be at our May 2027 concerts in Asheville.
Songwriters who identify with the women’s experience and are based in the Western North Carolina region qualify.
There is no fee for submissions.
You may submit up to 3 songs.
Submit as a full song(s) between 2-6 minutes in length (melody with lyrics accepted).
Please submit a lyric sheet along with a simple audio recording (cell phone recordings are fine) and/or sheet music notation. We can not accept any video that might identify the songwriter. We are judging the song, not the production, but we do need to clearly hear the lyrics and melody.
Knowledge of music theory and/or arranging is not necessary.
Songwriter is not responsible for arranging the song for treble chorus, but pre-arranged song submissions are accepted.
Song will be selected on various criteria, but especially on how well it expresses one or more of the values and themes of Singing Together for Joy, Social Justice, and Community.
Judging will be done “blind” (no knowledge of who is submitting) by a panel from Womansong.