Gary Mortenson, reporter

This year's ITG Composition Contest competition was for Solo Trumpet with Choir.

The first prize composition, Nobody Move by Sam Stalos, was based on an international treatment of the children's game Hide and Seek. The composer provided the following description in his program notes. “Nobody Move is musical dialogue in a theatrical construct…All of the performers, including the trumpet soloist, the keyboardist, the mass choir, and the vocal soloists, converse in musical phrases. Teasing, bickering, and arguments occur between the characters. They mock each other. The trumpet soloist in Nobody Move is both musician and actor.” Certainly all the different components required of this winning composition were masterfully done as the performers fulfilled their various roles with imaginative flair...The ITG Festival Choir directed by Robert Page contained mature voices that blended beautifully together...Trumpet solosits and the 2006 competition chair, Richard Rulli was especially effective in his conversational role throughout the work. The multi-media technical presentation visually enhanced the effectiveness of the premiere.