Lasting Tracks Challenge
The 2025-26 Audience Voices & Creative Reactions Contest
Imagine it’s the end of the world. What piece(s) of music are you listening to, and why?
Submit your track(s) for our communal “End of the World” playlist, with an option to submit a written statement explaining your choice for a chance to win a grand prize valued at over $500!
Inspired by Dies Irae, a visionary concert experience conceived by violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, this prompt invites you to reflect on music’s power to confront, comfort, and transcend endings. Dies Irae—Latin for “Day of Wrath”—reimagines an ancient chant as a modern meditation on change, impermanence, and our shared future. Featuring music both old and new, this program takes place in the Princeton University Chapel on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 7:30 PM. (Learn more about the concert>)
As we look ahead to this special event, we are collecting personal reflections on the music people would choose to hear at the end of an era—a moment of transformation, closure, or reflection.
Everyone is welcome to participate by submitting a track to the communal playlist. Entrants can also submit a written submission explaining their submission for a chance to win the grand prize as part of the writing contest.
How to Participate
- Share the piece(s) of music you’d choose for your “last track(s).”
- If you would like to participate in the contest, explain your choice through a written statement.
- Entries will be accepted on a rolling basis through the end of the 2025–26 season (through April 30, 2026).
- Your music selections will become part of a communal “End of the World” playlist, to be unveiled at the Dies Irae performance.
Submission Portal
Contest Prizes
Two prizes will be awarded for the most thoughtful and compelling written submissions:
- One for a Princeton University student
- One for a member of the general public
The winner(s) can choose between the Apple Airpods Max noise-cancelling over-the-ear headphones (a $546 value) or a pair of subscription tickets to the 2026-27 Princeton University Concerts season.
Winning entries will be published in Princeton University Concerts’ online and print materials. Writers who prefer to keep their identity private will be published anonymously.
To see past prize-winning submissions, you can refer to the Audience Voices Contest archive (general public) and the Creative Reactions Contest archive (Princeton University students).
Prizewinners will be announced by June 2026. Winners will be notified prior to the announcement.
Guidelines
- Reflection on the prompt can take a number of forms—essay, blank verse, prose, poetry, narrative, even lyrics—but participants are encouraged to approach the prompt from a personal perspective. Written submissions should be no more than 1000 words and speak to a broad audience.
- Participants are welcome to submit as many entries as they like.
- Submissions must be the original, unaided work of the entrant. The use of AI tools, including generative AI like large language models, is strictly prohibited.
