Inter-American Music Awards (IAMA)

A triennial composition competition established in 1948, the Inter-American Music Awards are open to composers residing in North, Central and South America, with no age limit.

Two major American composers are invited to judge each IAMA competition. In addition to their judging responsibilities, the composer-judges each write a work to be published in the Sigma Alpha Iota IAMA series. Current or former students of either of the announced judges are ineligible to apply.

Each triennium, Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies, Inc. specifies the particular combination of instruments and/or voices for which entries must be written, and the length of the work. Recent competitions have called for:

  • Brass quintet, no longer than ten (10) minutes in duration, suitable for advanced college performance
  • an instrumental work for no more than 4 performers, with or without piano, the winning composition being for two pianos; and
  • an instrumental work for solo string instrument (violin, viola, or cello), the winning composition being for violin.
  • Children's choir
  • Strings

Application Procedures
The IAMA competition brochure and application is mailed out and posted online in the middle year of the triennium. The judging takes place in the summer preceding the Convention year. The winner is announced at Convention, and the premieres of the winning work, and of the compositions commissioned from by the composer-judges, take place during the Convention.

 

Click here to download the application form: IAMA APPLICATION

 

 

For the 2025 National Convention, the competition seeks works for Percussion ensemble between 7-10 minutes in length.

Application Deadline: Postmarked no later than September 30, 2024.

The 2025 Composer-Judges are Libby Larsen and Jerod Impichchaachaahá Tate:

Libby Larsen
SAI Member Laureate, member of the SAI Composers Bureau, GRAMMY® award-winner,
and one of America’s most performed living composers, with a catalogue of over 500 works.
https://libbylarsen.com/

and

Jerod Impichchaachaahá Tate
SAI Composers Bureau Member, classical composer, and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation
in Oklahoma, dedicated to the development of American Indian classical composition.
https://jerodtate.com/

 

The Sigma Alpha Iota IAMA series is published by
C.F. Peters Corporation (Wise Music Group)
180 Madison Avenue, Fl 24, New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) 254-2100
Director: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Past IAMA Cycles