MLE Composers

Are you a composer who writes music for recorder? We invite you to submit a composition to the American Recorder Society, to be considered for publication as a Members' Library Edition with the American Recorder Magazine.

Thanks the generosity of donors, we are now able to offer an honorarium to composers whose compositions are selected for publication as a Members' Library Edition!

One Edition is published with the Spring, Summer, and Fall issues of American Recorder Magazine. After appearing with the magazine, Editions are posted to the ARS website for download by members and are available for purchase from the ARS at a very modest cost. Because of the quarterly frequency, selected submissions will likely not appear with the immediate next issue and we appreciate your patience.

For examples of previous publications, ARS members may click here to access the MLE archive. Non-members may click here for a list of samples of previous publications.

For compositions selected for publication, American Recorder Society retains the rights to that publication only. You are still free to publish your work elsewhere if you like.

If you choose to copyright your work, please be sure to include that notice on your submitted composition.  Note that it is your responsibility to monitor and enforce copyright issues.

Editor Glen Shannon will review your submission and will contact you by email if there are any questions. You will be notified if your composition has been selected for publication. The Editor will work with you as the publication date approaches, preparing proofs of the score for your review, as well as writing the Preface that tells the readers all about the piece and the composer.

Works submitted must meet the following criteria:

• Recorders only
• Maximum score length of 4 US letter-size pages
• Any combination of recorders, any difficulty level, any style or genre is accepted; variety is encouraged!
• Original works preferred, but arrangements are accepted. Arranger bears the burden of obtaining the rights to do the arrangement, if applicable.
• FILE FORMATS ACCEPTED: Sibelius 7 and earlier; Music XML; MuseScore; PDF; hard copy as a last resort, mailed to the ARS office.

Submissions will be reviewed by the American Recorder music editor, and publication is at the discretion of the reviewer.

You are encouraged to provide additional supporting media, including a link to a performance video on YouTube, for instance. Midi (.mid) and .mp3 audio files are also welcome.

If you have further questions, please contact Glen Shannon, music editor for American Recorder Magazine, at glen.shannon@k183.com.

Click here for a form that will allow you to submit your composition and supplemental information.

Here are some examples of previous MLE publications, selected to show some of the variety of works selected for publication:

30.  Anthony St. Pierre, SOS (Morse code SATB)
40.  Keith Terrett, Havana Rhubarb Rumba (larger group, more difficult)
43.  Bruce Perkins, He Talks, She Talks (amazing duet, unconventional barlines)
46.  Emilie George, 3 Balkan Line Dances (Balkan music with odd meters)
51.  Marcelo Milchberg, Algunes Lugares 1 (advanced-level solo)
56.  Jay Kreuzer, Jay's Pyramid Scheme (fairly easy SATB)