
2023 Composition Competition
The Arizona Flute Society is accepting submissions for our 3rd Annual Composition Competition! This year's competition is open to works for solo flute, flute and piano, or flute and electronics.
The 1st place winner will receive $250 and will be featured on the AFS website and social media platforms. Finalists will also be announced on our website and social media. By entering the competition, the winning composer agrees to allow AFS members to receive a free electronic copy of the winning piece (pdf and any media required for pieces with electronics will be available for download by AFS members for 1 year following the winner announcement), as well as 1 year of performance and recording rights for AFS members. The composer will retain all other rights to their composition, and all performance and recording rights will revert back to the composer 1 year after the date of the winner's announcement.
Applications must be submitted by March 31, 2023 at 11:59pm MST. The application fee is $15 per submission (applicants do not need to be AFS members in order to apply.) If submitting multiple works for consideration, composers will need to complete a separate application for each submission (when completing registration, please purchase the number of tickets that corresponds to the number of applications you will be submitting). Upon completion of registation, composers will receive an email with a link to the competition application form. Composers will be notified as to whether or not they have been chosen as a competition finalist by April 16, 2023. Following finalist notification, AFS membership will vote to determine the winning piece.
2022 Competition Winner and Finalist

Winner: Patrick O'Malley
Outlines for flute
Patrick O’Malley is a composer of orchestral, chamber, and media music. He is inspired by mysterious dichotomies in nature and art, writing music that often embraces abstract worlds and emotions rather than concrete images. Through balancing challenging techniques and traditional expression, O’Malley’s goal is to ignite the listener’s imagination and memory in enduring ways. His works have been performed across the United States and also in Europe.
Most recently, O’Malley has been recognized or performed by organizations including the Albany, Minnesota, Ft. Wayne, and Milwaukee Symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s National Composer Intensive, The ASCAP Morton Gould Award, and The Aaron Copland House Residency. He was named Composer of the Year by the Sioux City Symphony in 2018, and made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony in 2021. O’Malley also serves as the arranger and a conductor for the video game concert series Journey LIVE with composer Austin Wintory. O’Malley completed his masters and doctoral degrees in music at the University of Southern California where he studied with Andrew Norman and Sean Friar. He divides his time between living in Los Angeles California, and Lake Charlevoix, Michigan.
Learn more about Patrick O'Malley:
https://www.musicbypatrickomalley.com/
Instragram: @pitrackomalley

Finalist: Tilmann Dehnhard
POSTCARDS for solo flute
TILMANN DEHNHARD studied flute at the Berlin University of the Arts. He performs around the world and gives workshops for Jazz, modern playing techniques and improvisation and teaches at the Jazz Institut Berlin (University of the Arts). He has performed and recorded with many artists including Sam Rivers, Steve Lacey, Evan Parker, Cindy Lauper, Robbie Williams and Till Brönner while also producing his own CDs. Tilmann Dehnhard composes for the theatre and film. His publications include “The New Flute” (NFA Award Winner 2014) and “Jazz Studies For Flute” (NFA Award Winner 2012) "Easy Jazz Studies for Flute" and "FluteBeatboxing" Universal Edition Vienna. He officially endorses Altus Flutes.