Musicians Club of Women Annual Awards Competition - 2026

Since 1875, the Musicians Club of Women (MCW) has been proud to support the professional aspirations of young women musicians in the Midwest. We continue this tradition through our annual merit-based competition, awarding over $50,000 annually for the professional development and advancement of talented young musicians. We strive for ever higher standards of fairness, inclusion, and artistry by re-examining our competition’s eligibility and category delineations regularly, and as such we are pleased to announce the following information about this coming year’s competition.

The 2026 Competition will launch in the Fall of 2025. First round is virtual for instrumental and vocal divisions. Instrumental Finals March 7th and Vocal Finals March 14th, 2026.

The Musicians Club of Women Awards Competition invites women-identifying musicians living or studying in Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Michigan (MI), Wisconsin (WI), Minnesota (MN), and/or Iowa (IA) to apply.

Vocalists must be 18-30 years old to apply (age as of January 15th, 2026).

See website for video, application and repertoire requirements.

Application fees are 50$ payable by check or zelle. Fees are due at the time of application and are non-refundable. Applications are due by January 15th 2026 at 11:59PM.