The Orchestre symphonique de Montr_al International Composition Prize will be open to composers age 40 and younger. The winner will receive the C$25,000 Olivier Messiaen Prize and a commission for a new work to be performed and recorded by the MSO; the second-place winner will receive C$15,000. A C$10,000 prize, named for composer Claude Vivier, will be awarded for the best work by a Canadian composer.

"It is very important to give the composers of our time more opportunities to write works for orchestra and to find new ways of reaching an ever-wider public," Nagano said. "It is equally vital to give orchestras a renewed perspective on contemporary music."

Submissions for the inaugural prize are due by June 30, 2006. Two juries of composers will narrow the competitors to four finalists; their works will be performed by the MSO on January 11, 2007. A jury consisting of Nagano and composers Peter E‹tv‹s, Unsuk Chin, Gilles Tremblay, and Gilbert Amy will pick the winners.

Composers can get more information at www.composition.osm.ca.