Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards

The ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award (the “Award”) is granted annually to encourage talented young jazz composers during the earliest stages of their careers.  The Herb Alpert Foundation, a nonprofit, private foundation established in the late 1980s, makes significant annual contributions to a range of programs in the fields of arts, arts education and compassion and well-being.  Its funding is directed toward projects in which Herb and Lani Alpert play an active role.

The specific rules and requirements of The ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards, including but not limited to, eligibility, winner selection process, and award criteria, are summarized below. All Entrants should read the Official Rules before applying for consideration for the Award. By participating in the Award process, all Entrants agree to be bound by the Official Rules and the decisions of The ASCAP Foundation (the “Foundation”) and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (“ASCAP”), which are final and binding in all respects. To the extent not specifically defined below, all capitalized terms have the meaning set forth in the Official Rules.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for participation in the Award, an entrant (each an “Entrant”) must be, at the time of entry, (a) at least 13 years of age; (b) a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident or an enrolled student with a valid and current U.S. student visa; (c) under the age of 30 as of December 1, 2025; and, (d) must be, as of the Notification Period, either (i) an ASCAP writer member in good standing or (ii) unaffiliated with a performing rights organization (“PRO”); or (iii)  a member of an international PRO whose works are licensed through ASCAP.

Minor Applicants: If an Entrant is under the age of 18 (or the age of majority in their state, district, or territory of residence) at the time of entry, such Entrant’s parent or guardian will be required to complete and submit the Online Application on the Entrant’s behalf and sign and submit a copy of a Parental Consent Form.

Previous Recipients of Foundation Awards: Previous recipients of three or more Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards are not eligible for consideration for the Award. Other previous recipients of any Foundation award are eligible for consideration for the Award and must submit a newly created work written within the last three years.

Award Period

The Application Period begins on Monday, November 3, 2025 and ends on Monday, December 1, 2025 at 11:59pm ET.

Submission Requirements

To be considered for the Award, Entrants must submit:

1. A completed Online Application;

2. A score/chart of one published or unpublished original work in the jazz genre (no arrangements); and

3. An mp3 of an electronic realization or recording of the musical work.

One (1) Submission per Entrant. If multiple Submissions are received by the same Entrant, only the first Submission from that Entrant will qualify for entry into the Award; subsequent Submissions from that Entrant will be disqualified.

If an Entrant is under the age of 18 (or the age of majority in their state, district, or territory of residence) at the time of entry, the Entrant’s parent or legal guardian must complete and submit the Online Application on the Entrant’s behalf and complete and upload a copy of the signed Parental Consent Form available as part of the Online Application.

The submitted musical work must be entirely the Entrant’s original work (e.g. no sampling, etc.) written within the three years before the date of submission.

• No co-written submissions will be considered for this Award.
• All uploaded Submission materials must separately bear the Entrant’s name.

Clearance of Rights: For vocal compositions setting text or a translation of text, Entrants must provide evidence that the text or translation is either in the public domain or, if still protected, used with written permission from the author or translator or the relevant representative (i.e., publisher or estate).