Creative Reactions Contest
A contest designed to capture the impact of music, as perceived by Princeton University undergraduate and graduate student writers and artists. The contest alternates between creative writing and visual arts categories.
Dedicated to the memory of Vera Sharpe Kohn. Hosted by the Student Ambassadors of Princeton University Concerts.
2022-23 Contest
Jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant brings a new work inspired by Toni Morrison’s archives to campus in hour-long concerts on April 12 at 6PM and 9PM. Participants are asked to attend one of these concerts and use her new composition as their own source of inspiration. Limited free concert tickets are available to participants.
Entries will be evaluated anonymously by a panel of judges from across the Princeton University campus and town community.
A prize of $1000 will be awarded to the winner of the 2022–23 contest. Honorable Mention(s) of up to $250 may be distributed at the discretion of the jury.
PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY
The Creative Reactions Contest is open to all currently enrolled (Spring Semester 2023) undergraduate and graduate students. Please note: If you won first prize in a past Creative Reactions Contest, you are ineligible to enter in the same category for one academic year.
REGISTRATION
All participants must register to participate in the contest at this link. Registrants will receive an email confirmation that will contain a personal ID number to be included with their contest submission. A free ticket will be provided to each participant if requested during registration, pending availability. Tickets must be requested by noon on Monday, April 10, 2023. Participants will be required to check-in at the concert.
ACCEPTED FORMATS
Drawing: For this competition, Drawing can be defined as the result of any device that makes a conscious and expressive mark on a surface. This can include pen, pencil, ink, chalk, marker, scratchboard, etc. Additional formats may be accepted; please note any questions when registering for the contest. The final size, surface, and format are up to you as long as the work can be submitted digitally. A brief personal statement must accompany the submission, outlining the drawing’s intention.
Writing: 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. Submissions should be no more than 1000 words and speak to a broad audience. Participants are also encouraged to submit a brief personal statement with their submission, clarifying intention or providing any additional information that may be useful to the jury’s deliberations.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
All entries are due by the end of the day on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, uploaded on the Creative Reactions Contest Submission Page.
Submission guidelines are as follows:
- Participants are welcome to submit as many entries as they like.
- Entries must be submitted electronically as a PDF document no longer than 1,000 words (writing) or a JPEG document (drawing).
- Submissions must be anonymously identified by the entrant’s Personal ID number in both the submission file title and in the work title.
- Entrants agree to follow Princeton University’s honor code, detailed in the Academic Integrity Booklet.
PRIZE ANNOUNCEMENT
The $1000 prize and any potential honorable mentions will be announced in May 2023. Winners will be notified prior to the announcement.
Engaging with Music: About the Creative Reactions Program
It all started in February 2015, when over one hundred undergraduate and graduate students signed up for the first ever Creative Reactions Writing Contest. Conceived by the Student Ambassadors of Princeton University Concerts, this writing contest gave students a free ticket to attend a Princeton University Concert in the legendary Alexander Hall, in return for a creative written response to the performance—and a chance to win a cash prize. The wonderfully diverse group of submissions brought together judges from many corners of the Princeton community, including professors in the Creative Writing Program and Music Department, the owner of Labyrinth Bookstore, and long-standing community audience members.
The enthusiastic response to this novel initiative made clear that students were eager to extend the concert experience beyond the walls of Alexander Hall, and to share their passion for or curiosity about music with the community at large. Princeton University Concerts (PUC) has developed the Creative Reactions Program in order to provide such an opportunity to all Princeton University students. While continuing the Creative Reactions Contest on an annual basis, now expanded to include other art forms, this program will also present various other means through which students will be able to harness their creative talents in their engagement with music on campus. This includes a student-designed and student-written season brochure, opportunities for writing to be included in printed programs, and more.
Past Winners
2022 Contest: “Music of Gratitude and Remembrance” (Writing)
First Prize Winner ($1000)
Auhjanae McGee ’23 – “Thank you, Alicia Keys”
SECOND PRIZE WinnerS ($500)
Will Hartman ’25 – “Everything, and What Comes After”
Alejandro Virue, Graduate Student – “Poor Funes … A Dialogue”
See Winning Submissions
2021 Contest: “What has music meant to you during the pandemic?” (Writing)
First Prize WinnerS ($1000)
Cassandra A. James ’23 – “Hummingbirds: A Pandemic Survival Guide”
Kerem Oktar, Graduate Student – “Everywhere, at the End of Time”
SECOND PRIZE Winner ($500)
Emily V. Mesev, Graduate Student – “Apocalypse Lullaby”
Honorable Mentions ($250)
Maya Keren ’22 – “Reminder to Self:”
Alexander Kim ’21 – “Dancing about Architecture: Some Selections From, and Commentary On, My Music Listening Diary”
Konstantinos Konstantinou ’22 – “Little Fugue on Covid-19”
See Winning Submissions
2020 Contest: Drawing
First Prize Winner ($1000)
Alyssa Cai ’20 – Serene Escape, colored pencil on paper, inspired by a Live Music Meditation with cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras
Honorable Mentions ($100)
Nazdar Ayzit ’23 – Untitled, pencil on paper, inspired by an all-Beethoven program performed by violinist Isabelle Faust, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, and pianist Alexander Melnikov.
Eliana Gagnon ’23 – Untitled, charcoal/pencil on paper, inspired by a Performances Up Close program with pianist Gabriela Montero.
Sam Melton ’23 – Untitled, colored pencil on paper, inspired by the Calidore String Quartet.
Helen So ’22 – Untitled, digital, inspired by a Performances Up Close program with pianist Gabriela Montero.
Sandy Yang ’22 – Untitled, watercolor, inspired by an all-Beethoven program performed by violinist Isabelle Faust, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, and pianist Alexander Melnikov.
See Winning Submissions
2019 Contest
VISUAL ARTS CATEGORY
Prize not awarded
CREATIVE WRITING CATEGORY
First Prize Winner ($500)
Crystal Liu ’20 – “It’s Just Llike the Water: A Lyric Essay on Art and Faith” inspired by Gustavo Dudamel’s residency.
2018 Contest
First Prize Winner ($500)
Samuel Sebastian Cox ’18 – “Untitled” inspired by the Tenebrae Choir
Sang Lee ’18 – “A Couple of Fiddles” inspired by “Shostakovich and the Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy”
Honorable Mentions ($100)
Diana Chao ’21 – “Gaita (Gal)ega,” inspired by gaita player Cristina Pato
Xin Rong Chua GS – “Interlude,” inspired by “Shostakovich and the Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy”
Jason Molesky GS – “Tempest” inspired by violinist Jennifer Koh
See Winning Submissions
2017 Contest
First Prize Winners ($500)
Anna Leader ’18 – “love songs between balconies” inspired by Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton
David Ting ’17 – “El barrio(lage) desconocido” inspired by pianist violinist Augustin Hadelich & guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas
Honorable Mentions ($125)
Isabella Bosetti ’18 – “Translation/Aphasia,” inspired by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Xin Chua GS – “The Future Age,” inspired by the Takács String Quartet
Kirit Limperis ’19 – “With the Percussionist,” inspired by percussionist Colin Currie
2016 Contest
First Prize Winners ($500)
Anna Leader ’18 – “Untitled,” inspired by the Arcanto String Quartet
David Ting ’17 – “Journey Between Worlds,” inspired by pianist David Greilsammer
Second Prize Winners ($250)
Magdalena Collum ’18 – “Ritual, in four parts,” inspired by pianist Igor Levit
Emily Tu ’16 – “Voice,” inspired by pianist Igor Levit
2015 Contest
First Prize Winner
Susannah Sharpless ’15 – “Space and Time,” inspired by violinist Stefan Jackiw and pianist Anna Polonsky
Second Prize Winners
Trevor Klee ’15 – “Untitled,” inspired by pianist Marc-André Hamelin
Lucas Mazzotti ’17 – “Untitled,” inspired by the Brentano String Quartet and Joyce DiDonato
