Fisk Student Wins 2nd Place at the Southeastern Composers League Student Contest

Brandon A. Owens, Jr., was the recipient of the 2nd place prize at the Southeastern Composers League’s Annual Salop Slates Student Composer Contest. Brandon is a senior business administration major with a minor in music business. Owens participated in the Arnold Salop and Philip Slates Memorial Competition for undergraduate students. Brandon’s winning piece was titled “Trial Through Fires” for string trio.

To participate each student is required to submit one chamber music composition for 8 or fewer performers. Works submitted must be original musical compositions that have received no previous award at the time of submission. Students who are interested in submitting their work must also study with a person who is a member of SCL or be a student member of SCL themselves. Owens is not a student member of SCL but is a student of Gray Powell Nash who is a music professor at Fisk University.  Nash is also the current President of the Southeastern Composers League which, forced him to recuse himself from the judging portion.

“I’m quite proud of Brandon A. Owens, Jr. not only for the accomplishment but also for accepting the challenge that I put in front of him of completing a string trio composition and entering it into the SCL Annual Salop Slates Student Composer Contest,” Said Dr. Gary P. Nash, a music professor at Fisk University.  “I believe that he can be very successful if he chooses to compose more Classical music.”