Competition Being Held to Create Alma Mater at SMSU

Published Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Dr. Stephen Kingsbury

A competition to create an SMSU Alma Mater will be held in the coming months, and is open to everyone — especially those with ties to SMSU.

“An Alma Mater serves as a hymn, or an anthem associated with a school or university,” said Dr. Stephen Kingsbury, Associate Professor of Music at SMSU.

The competition is “open to anyone; however, the task force created to oversee the competition is especially interested in soliciting entries from individuals with a connection to SMSU. Current and former faculty, administrators, staff and students are encouraged to enter,” said Kingsbury.

The competition has two rounds. “The first is the creation of the text — the poem to go with it,” said Kingsbury. “Round 2 is the creation of the melody to be used with the text from Round 1.”

The deadline for Round 1 is Feb. 1, 2019; the deadline for Round 2 is March 15, 2019.

The new SMSU Alma Mater will be premiered by the SMSU music ensembles at their spring 2019 performance.

The competition rules:

What is an Alma Mater?

An Alma Mater serves as a hymn or an anthem associated with a school or university. Alma Maters tend to be serious and reflective. They serve a ceremonial purpose in the life of an academic institution, being used at formal events such as convocation, commencement, and the installation of new campus leadership.

Entrants:

The SMSU Alma Mater competition is open to anyone; however, the task force is especially interested in soliciting entries from individuals with a connection to SMSU
Current and former faculty, administrators, staff and students are encouraged to enter
Entrants must be age 16 and up
Individuals may enter either or both rounds of the competition

Submissions

Entries for both rounds of the competition should be submitted to Diana Holmes (FA 207 or diana.holmes@smsu.edu)
Round 1 entries are due on or before February 1, 2019
Entries should be in the form of a poem
The subject of the poem should be SMSU, as it relates to tradition, education, the importance of education, service, etc.
The poem should be one to three stanzas in length
Each stanza should be approximately 4 to 6 lines in length
Stanzas should have a recognizable rhythmic pattern and may make use of end-line rhymes
The overall form of the poem is at the discretion of the poet
Entries should be typed
The task force reserves the right to edit the winning entry as necessary, but will only do so with the knowledge and consent of the author
The winning entry will be announced on February 15, 2019
Round 2 entries are due on or before March 15, 2019
Entries should be in the form of a melody that sets the winning text from Round 1
Chord symbols for the intended chords are allowed, but not required
Entries should include a suggested tempo indication
Entries should be submitted in standard musical notation (either handwritten, or electronic) with appropriate text underlay
The winning entry will be announced on April 1, 2019
In the event that there is no entry selected as the winner of round 1, round 2 will be delayed
There will be a cash prize in the amount of $1,000 awarded to the winning entry in each round
The new SMSU Alma Mater will be premiered by the SMSU music ensembles at their spring 2019 performance