IDDF HITS THE RIGHT NOTE, ANNOUNCES WINNER OF 'COMPOSE YOUR WAY TO $10k' COMPETITION

For Immediate Release

INDIANAPOLIS (Dec. 23, 2024) – The Indiana Destination Development Foundation (IDDF) and Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch are proud to announce the winner of the IDDF's Compose Your Way to $10k competition, designed to celebrate Indiana through culture, creativity and music. Zachariah Kirkham of La Porte, Ind., has been awarded the grand prize of $10,000 for his original composition, which captured the spirit of Indiana. Kirkham's composition was selected out of 74 submissions by an independent judging panel.

"Indiana is full of creative talent, and Kirkham's composition beautifully reflects the warmth, authenticity, and energy that makes our state such a special place," said Lt. Gov. Crouch, chair of IDDF. "We are thrilled to spotlight this work as part of our mission to showcase Indiana as a premier destination."

Kirkham grew up in a musical family with his father being a 'jack of all instruments' and his mother a singer. He spent the last 20 years of his life working on his craft of writing and composing music without any formal training. He released his first album of original music at just 15 years old and continues to release music today. His jingle is a creative project that will be able to help share the sights and sounds of Indiana with audiences here and all over the world.

"To compose something that was seen as worthy of $10,000 is mind-blowing and just validates that I’m not wasting my time with this whole music thing," said Kirkham. "The past couple of years I’ve been inspired to release more music, which has been a lot more difficult since getting married and having kids, so I use the hours after they go to bed to be creative and it’s exhausting but this contest has reenergized that creative spirit to do even more going into 2025."

Kirkham said his biggest inspiration for his composition was Visit Indiana's website. He found the vision for the piece as he browsed through the site and pulled inspiration for the lyrics. After translating verbiage into music, he spent several hours in his home studio producing the prize-winning jingle.

"Music has the ability to bring people together and this competition provided a wonderful opportunity for Hoosiers to express their love for Indiana in a fresh and inspiring way," said Elaine Bedel, Secretary and CEO of IDDC. "Congratulations to Zachariah [Kirkham] for creating a work of art that will resonate with our audience and inspire them to explore all that Indiana has to offer."

Follow Visit Indiana on social media at @VisitIndiana on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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