By Aprille Gozdecki | @aprilleposts
The Bronco Events and Activities Team is hosting a virtual music competition called Sounds of CPP to showcase student talent throughout the fall semester.
“Sounds of CPP is a music exhibit with the hope that people will feel represented,” said Annikka Rodriguez, a third-year aerospace engineering student and student assistant in the BEAT art program. “Since we did a visual art exhibit in spring, we wanted to do a different type of art for the fall — so we went with music.”
Although Rodriguez originally did not want Sounds of CPP to be a competition, the team had to limit the number of potential participants due to their website’s limited capacity for submissions.
To be considered for the competition, musicians will need to submit a one to a two-minute music video in MP4 format. Songs can either be an original composition or a cover. The use of profanity or derogatory terms may lead to disqualification.
Five to six of the best musicians will be featured on BEAT’s Instagram account. After submissions, BEAT will begin posting one of the winners each week until the end of the fall semester, providing a platform and exposure to student musicians.
In the past, BEAT, a division of Associated Students Inc., hosted similar competition-style events, but the organization hopes Sounds of CPP will be more inviting by showcasing multiple musicians. “We wanted this exhibit to be open to everyone,” Rodriguez said. “But Sounds of CPP is a competition, so it does make it similar to past BEAT events where one musician gets picked over all the others.”
Through this competition, BEAT hopes to build a sense of community, especially with the fall semester being virtual. “We want the students to feel a sense of belonging,” said BEAT Program Coordinator Maria-Lisa Flemington. “We want the students to feel like the university and ASI are creating a community.”
In addition to the music quality, the BEAT team welcomes videos promoting diversity, Rodriguez added.
Music professor Christine Lee-Song will participate as one of the judges for this year’s virtual music competition. Lee-Song created a rubric that will help guide how the videos will be judged.
All submissions are due on Sept. 14 by midnight. To participate in the competition, students can follow the link on BEAT’s Instagram @asicppbeat to access the submission form.