On Tuesday, Mar. 5 at 7:30 p.m. UCB will be holding a songwriting contest. The event will be held in Kaeuper Hall.
Chris DiGiacomo, who is on staff for UCB, will be heading up this event. Millikin University is a very musically talented school, and many of the students here have skills in songwriting. This event will give students with these skills the opportunity to showcase their work, along with trying to compete.
When asked what brought the idea for this event, DiGiacomo said, “I just thought that a songwriting contest would be a good idea because we have many talented songwriters on campus.”
UCB is hoping for a fairly good turnout at the event, because with more people, comes more interest and more talent. “We are hoping for 50 people,” DiGiacomo said.
One of the interesting things about this event is that it is a contest. Students who showcase their work will be competing against other students showcasing their original work. Often, having an event that is a contest brings in people because people enjoy the prize-winning. DiGiacomo said, “Contests are a great way to get people interested in an event because of the prizes offered and because of the competition and also the bragging rights factor.” UCB is hoping that having the event in the form of a contest will bring in numbers.
The way the contest works is sort of like popular singing and songwriting contests that air on television. DiGiacomo said, “Millikin students will be performing original songs with up to two additional accompanying musicians to a panel of judges. The songs are performed and then the judges will pick who they think was the best songwriter.”
The judges for the event will be Luke Krolikowski, a guitar professor and the guitarist of The Great Waltz; vocal and theatre professor, Ann Borders; and Jake Pearson, a school of music student and singer-songwriter for Good Safari.
The prize for this particular contest is very beneficial to those competing in the contest. “The winner of the contest will have their song recorded at Millitrax Recording Studio, and released onto Blue Box Records. This means that their music will be promoted and put on audio streaming services like iTunes and Spotify,” DiGiacomo explained.
This prize gives students a good incentive to participate in the contest because it will be beneficial to their future careers if they win. There is also an incentive for students who are not performing to go and watch because there will be a raffle for a front row spot at the Big Event at the songwriters contest, and tickets for good seats are going fairly quickly.
There are a few other organizations involved in the contest. “The event is co-sponsored by UCB, Millikin University Concert Committee (MUCC), the Musicology Discussion Group, and the Songwriters Guild,” DiGiacomo said.
And as with any contest event, there needs to be an MC, and Phillip Armstrong will be the MC of the songwriting contest event. The event is also a registered School of Music event so it will count as recital credit for those students who need to complete their requirement.