Music is for the people. For all of us,
the dumb, the deaf, the dog & jays, handclappers, dancing moon watchers,
brainy puzzlers, abstracted whistlers, finger-snapping time keepers, crazy,
weak, hurt,weed keepers, the strays.
The land of music is everyone's nation—her tune, his beat, your drum
one song, one vote.

—Eric Stokes

The brainchild of the late composer and longtime Zeitgeist friend and supporter Eric Stokes, the Eric Stokes Song Contest (named in his honor after his death in 1999) was developed to encourage and celebrate amateur music-making with the expectation that doing so would increase our community's appreciation of the music of our time. Our Eric Stokes Song Contest, held annually, solicits "songs" (any type of musical composition) from amateur composers throughout the Twin Cities Metro Area. We average 50–70 entries each year, and entrants have ranged from 4 years of age to 89. Entries are separated into two categories, one for adult and one for youth (up to age 17), and are then adjudicated by an outside panel. In selecting the jury we choose three to four people who represent a diverse range of artistic perspectives, often including a winner from one of the previous contests. Winning entries are arranged by Zeitgeist and performed on our Playing It Close to Home Concert at Unity Church-Unitarian in the Capital Hill neighborhood of St. Paul, often with the composers performing alongside the ensemble. In the past, winning compositions have encompassed musical styles ranging from jazz to gospel to high modernist. In the many years that we have presented this program, it has consistently surpassed our expectations in terms of the diversity of contest submissions and the enthusiastic response of our contest winners and audience members.

Eric Stokes Song Contest Winning Entries:

2007 Adam Warmansen, Stanley Woolner, Justin E.A. Busch,
--------Mark Vandermyde (Honorable Mention)

2006 Tristan Williams, Jesse Mandell-McClinton, Michael Davis

2005 Wade Oden, Josh Bauder, Perpich Center for the Arts Student Ensemble
--------(Annika Johnson, Elliot Manthey, Mariah Mills, and Jeff Sundquist)

2004 Matt Barber, Josh Bauder, and Adrian Gruetter

2003 Shirley Patterson, Derek Remes, and Paul Kovacovic

2002 3rd grade from Crossroads Elementary, Roy Colbert and Ken Vork,
-------- and Drew Way

2001 4th grade from Crossroads Elementary, Blair Foley, and Stefan Kac

2000 Stefan Kac, Jerry Kosak, Jill Slater

1999 Jerry Kosak, Sofi Shank, Daniel Kaniess

1998 Tyler Woodstrom, Lake Country School Class H, Andrew Litecky

1997 Andrew Duckwall, Brandon Patton, Tim Malchow

1994 Clarence Lamb, Richard Atkins, Bob Bushnell, Robert Maderich