Songwriting Finalists
2025 is a new year and with it there are new promises and the excitement of a fresh beginning! We are thrilled to announce these talented High School students as the finalists for our School of Music Songwriting Contest!
Lipscomb's Commercial Music Department is committed to raising up the next generations of artists, songwriters and producers in Nashville's fertile music community and this is only one of the things we are doing to contribute to that mission.
If you are an aspiring High School songwriter and are concerned that you missed out on this year's opportunity, don't worry, we will be posting info for the 2025-2026 contest very soon.
Judges for the contest were:
Viola Nye
Viola Nye is an independent singer/songwriter from Columbus, Ohio. A current high school senior, she plans to move to Nashville in the fall of 2025 to attend college and pursue her songwriting career. Viola released her first EP, “The Curb”, in March 2024.
At the age of ten, she began to invent melodies and lyrics. After a family move to Manhattan at the age of 11, Viola began to learn to play the ukulele and guitar and spend any available time listening to music. She began honing her vocal skills, spending more time playing the piano, and performing publicly at the age of 16. Inspired by deep and meaningful lyrics as well as beautiful melodies and vocals, the most important thing to Viola while writing music is to capture the beauty in emotions and experiences and turn it into art. She writes music to make people feel seen and heard while sharing stories of her own and inspiring people to do the same.
Her song "Forever" is linked here on Spotify and Apple Music
Ashlan Pearson
From an early age, Ashlan has loved music and songwriting. One of her first recollections of songwriting was at six years old. She recorded herself singing a song about her mom making brownies. As she got older, she started to record songs she wrote on her mom’s MIDI controller using Garageband and later Logic Pro. At eighteen, she has written over one hundred songs in the past years and has released songs on Spotify.
She truly loves creating tasteful harmonies and instrumental tracks, and these are her favorite aspects of composing a song. She looks forward to a future in songwriting and deeply desires to continue for the rest of her life. In addition to music, she enjoys painting and drawing and had the privilege of illustrating her first published book this year. She is confident that these two vocations will go hand in hand, and hopes to pursue and succeed in them both.
Her song "Hypothetical" is linked here on Spotify and Apple Music
Simon Wood
Simon Wood is a high school junior from Marshall, Illinois. Growing up in a musical household, he has been involved in worship ministry for as long as he can remember. Simon’s interest in songwriting began when he was three years old, but he really fell in love with writing in junior high. His favorite thing about music is its ability to convey complex truth in a way that words by themselves cannot.
Simon released his debut single, “While You Were Sleeping,” in 2024 with the help of his brother Ezra, and they have continued to work together on music since then. Simon is currently learning to produce his own songs, his first production being “Snow Day”, a song about getting to spend the day at home with people you care about.
You can listen to his song "Snow Day" here:
Mabel Craig
Mabel Craig, a singer/songwriter from Leawood, Kansas, has been composing music for as long as she can remember. As a junior at Blue Valley High School, she is a two-time KMEA all-state singer and a member of the Tri-M music honor society. Mabel is also active in Blue Valley's nationally ranked show choir, Chamber choir, and musical theater productions.
Outside of school, she connects with her community through her organization, Music Making Memories, which performs nostalgic music for residents of memory-care homes. She also assists with the music therapy program at Bringing Therapy Home in Overland Park.
Her original compositions have garnered multiple accolades, including 1st place in the youth division of the Cohutta Song Fest songwriting competition, 3rd place in the Delta Songwriting Star competition, and being a Top 8 finalist in the Project North songwriting competition. Additionally, she received the Outstanding Young Performer award and six superior ratings at the Mid-America Music Association piano competition, along with acceptance to the University of Missouri's summer composition institute. Mabel aspires to pursue a career in commercial songwriting and scoring while continuing to write her own music.
You can listen to her song "When a Tree Falls" here:
Noelle Lidyoff
Noelle Lidyoff, an 18 year old singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Orange County, CA, is passionate about producing her own music. She has released three songs, co-writing and co-producing them alongside a production and songwriting team under the band name Della Luz Music. Noelle has performed on renowned stages such as the Great Western Forum and the Orpheum in Los Angeles, appeared on live international TV broadcasts, and played at The Hotel Café. In addition to pop, she writes Christian music and currently leads worship at her church. Noelle is also a two-time YoungArts winner in the singer-songwriter category, receiving the honor in both 2024 & 2025 for her original music.
You can listen to her song "Fake" here:
Peter Golden
Peter Golden, born and raised in High Point, North Carolina, is a junior at Penn-Griffin School for the Arts. Peter has a deep love for songwriting, drawing inspiration from The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Jimmy Webb. In addition to songwriting, Peter has been playing piano and singing for several years, and also enjoys painting in his spare time. His family, friends, and teachers are constantly supportive of his life goal: Creating a career in the music industry.
His song "The Road to Nowhere" is linked here on Spotify and Apple Music