Deadline: January 31, 2025
SUBMISSION FORM
ELIGIBILITY & GUIDELINES
Who can Participate in the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge?
High School Students from all 50 States, Washington D.C. and U.S. territories are eligible.
Entry RequirementsEach Participant can submit one original composition tailored for a musical theater production. The full musical does not need to be written, but the student will be asked to justify the song as a storytelling moment as part of the larger hypothetical work.
Collaborative entries (up to three Writers) are accepted, but all members of the team must meet the age and schooling requirements.
Limit of one solo entry and one collaborative entry per Participant.
Entries must be the wholly original work of the entrant(s) and should not infringe on any copyrights or any other rights of third parties.
General Guidelines
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) advocate for creativity, originality and artistic expression. Any form of plagiarism will lead to disqualification.
What’s Not AllowedRemixes or covers of existing work.
New works that sample or include stems/tracks from existing work.
Adaptations of popular movies, books, TV shows and other pre-existing media.
Songs promoting hate, discrimination or any form of offensive content.Photo Credit: Rebecca J Michelson
SUBMISSION PROCESS & TIMELINE
The Songwriting Challenge has a two-part submission process. Draft 1 submissions will receive feedback only. Feedback will be provided to all Participants to foster growth and development. After receiving responses from industry professionals, students may then revise their submission for the Draft 2 competitive round. Students must submit a Draft 1 entry and incorporate that feedback in Draft 2 in order to be eligible for the Winners Weekend in NYC.
Draft 1 Submission
Key Dates: Open August 1, 2024 | Close January 31, 2025
Submit the first draft of your song in the Draft 1 submission round. Draft 1 submissions will receive feedback only.
Receive Feedback
Once submitted, experts from the musical theatre industry will listen to your song and provide constructive feedback. All songs will be reviewed 4-5x.
Participants who submit to Draft 1 will be eligible to submit a second draft incorporating feedback.
Draft 2 Submission
Key Dates: Open March 14, 2025 | Close April 11, 2025
After revising your song, Participants may submit to Draft 2 to be entered into the competitive round and considered for the NYC Winners Weekend & Mentorship prize.
Students must have submitted Draft 1 by the posted due date in order to be eligible to participate in Draft 2.
Competitive Evaluation
This round, our entire panel of NAMT Members, Educators, Alumni Artists and more will evaluate your song’s potential, originality and overall quality.
Students are not required to submit for the Draft 2 Round, but only songs that have been submitted to Draft 1, incorporated feedback, and resubmitted to Draft 2 will be considered for the Winners Weekend.
Winners Weekend
Key Dates: June 13-17, 2025 for selected Songwriting Challenge winners
Selected Winners will be invited to NYC for Winners Weekend, where their Winning Songs will debut in a concert performed by Broadway talent!