The Ark invites student songwriters at the University of Michigan to submit their original music demo in order to compete for a live performance showcase at UMMA and a chance to perform at The Ark. After a successful launch in fall 2009, the series continues with two performance showcases (February and March 12) featuring the best of the student songwriters selected by the Ark staff from the contest submissions, and a final performance and announcement of the winner of the series (March 26), who will be invited to perform at The Ark.