Finalists Announced in Finale National Composition Contest

MakeMusic, Inc. (NASDAQ: MMUS) announced today the finalists for the Finale National Composition Contest.

The contest represents a partnership between MakeMusic, the American Composers Forum and the Grammy-winning ensemble eighth blackbird. The objective of the competition is to encourage creativity by composers throughout the United States and to recognize and reward their accomplishments. Applicants submitted current scores and recordings that demonstrated their ability to compose for eighth blackbird. Members of eighth blackbird then judged the competition.

The three finalists are: Andy Akiho of New Haven, Conn., Eric Lindsay of Bloomington, Ind., and Kurt Rohde of San Francisco, Calif.

Each finalist will receive a cash prize and will write a piece for eighth blackbird, which will be workshopped and performed in the ensemble's Chicago studio. The judges will then select one composer to receive the final prize, which includes an additional cash award and a future public performance by eighth blackbird.

The volume and quality of submissions prompted contest judges to also recognize twelve additional applicants as deserving of honorable mention. They are:

"The contest inspired submissions from more than 500 composers nationwide,” said John Nuechterlein, American Composers Forum president and CEO. "We were elated to see this kind of response and delighted to partner with eighth blackbird and MakeMusic in the effort to discover new talent. Most of all, we are eagerly anticipating the works that will be written for this stellar chamber ensemble.”

"With the contest, we did exactly what we set out to do: to find fresh, new voices that we had never heard before,” said Nicholas Photinos, eighth blackbird’s cellist. "I was floored and honored by the level of applicants, particularly at the later stages of the judging, and it was a pleasure to discover so much great and varied music.”

The latest contest schedule, guidelines and more information can be found at the contest website.

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About MakeMusic, Inc.
MakeMusic^®, Inc. is a world leader in music technology whose mission is to develop and market solutions that transform how music is composed, taught, learned and performed. For more than 20 years, Finale^® has been the industry standard in music notation software, enabling composers, arrangers, musicians, teachers, students and publishers to create, edit, audition, print and publish musical scores. MakeMusic is also the creator of SmartMusic^® interactive software that is transforming the way students practice. With SmartMusic, students and teachers have access to thousands of band, orchestra and vocal pieces allowing students to practice with background accompaniment and get immediate feedback on their performance. SmartMusic allows teachers to individualize instruction and document the progress of every student. Additional information about this Minnesota company can be found at www.makemusic.com.