When was the last time you attended a musical performance, classical or otherwise, that featured works by female composers? 

Women's Orchestra of Arizona not only regularly performs works by noted and under-the-radar female composers, it also encourages and recognizes new compositions by women through its annual Composition Competition. 

The 2026 competition will be accepting scores until April 30, 2026. the winner will be announced in summer 2026, and the work will be performed by the Women's Orchestra of Arizona in the 2026-2027 concert season. As noted in the downloadable PDF of competition requirements, applicants should identify as female with a minimum age of 16 years old. We are looking for compositions scored for full orchestra 2.2.2.2 2.2.2.0 Timpani and strings. Anything scored for instrumentation larger than this will not be considered. Work should not be longer than 7 minutes.  

The Women's Orchestra of Arizona Composition Competition provides women composers the opportunity to have their original orchestral work recognized and given a premiere performance by the orchestra. 

In making the winning selection, the competition committee looks for creative imagination, stylistic originality, and presence of a personal voice.

Past competition winners include Autumn Marie Reed (Wisconsin), Florence Anna Maunders (the United Kingdom), Roxanne Sacketti (Prescott, Arizona) and Diane Sullivan (Phoenix), former WOA concertmaster.