Arts funding in the 2008 Budget

Music related announcements include:

* $4.4 million extra baseline funding over four years for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

* extra baseline funding of $4.8 million over four years for the NZ Music Commission.

* $10.9 million extra over four years for Radio New Zealand to maintain its core services.

Proposals sought for new New Zealand work

PROPOSALS SOUGHT FOR “SHOW and TELL”

The New Zealand International Arts Festival (NZIAF) is committed to fostering the development of new work from New Zealand artists and companies and invites arts practitioners from all artistic disciplines to submit applications for inclusion in the NZIAF’s Show and Tell.

NZIAF seeks to continually engage with the creative sector and encourages new work of great promise. Show and Tell is but one method employed by NZIAF as a vehicle to support the development of new ideas and concepts with the potentiality of presentation by NZIAF and/or other national and international presenters.

Financial assistance is given to selected applicants to progress their initial concept to a form whereby they are able to meaningfully present and convey a solid sense of their project’s potential to industry partners and presenters.

The Show and Tell process culminates in those presentations being given in Wellington later in the year to invited Festival Directors, industry partners and presenters.

For more detailed information please see http://www.nzfestival.nzpost.co.nz/

Philip Neill Memorial Prize in Music

The prize is awarded annually for excellence in Original Composition and is valued at $1500. The competition is open to all past and present students of the universities of New Zelanad. The topic for 2008 is a composition for string quartet. The work must be not less than 8 minutes and not more than 15 minutes in duration. The prize regulations may be obtained from The Manager, Student Administration, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin. Applications close with the University on 1 July 2008.

Radio New Zealand Concert celebrates NZ Music Month

Radio New Zealand Concert is celebrating the start of New Zealand Music Month by releasing a New Zealand work as a free podcast for download.

Anthony Ritchie’s Symphony No 2 was recorded by RNZ when the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra performed it under Marc Taddei in 2006. Radio New Zealand Concert is now making this work available as part of its Podcast Classics series.

Podcast Classics is a monthly web-only programme from RNZ Concert, which makes New Zealand performances of classic works available as free downloads. Partner organisations are the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand String Quartet, Chamber Music New Zealand – and of course, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

To download Anthony Ritchie’s work, as well as last month’s podcast by the New Zealand String Quartet, please visit http://www.radionz.co.nz/concert/programmes/podcast_classics

Music notation software study results available.

In 2004, many CANZ members took part in a survey conducted by then Victoria University PhD student Chris Watson.  Chris was looking at the effects of music notation software on compositional practices and outcomes and received data in the form of completed questionnaires from some 106 active New Zealand composers.  Chris has now graduated and, as promised, his analysis of the questionnaire data is now available for composers to view, by visiting the following URL: 

http://www.chriswatsoncomposer.com/phd.htm

Here, you will have the option of downloading Chris’s complete thesis, or just the chapter dealing with the results of the questionnaire.

Chris would like to thank members of the composition community for their time and effort in completing his questionnaire and hopes that its findings are of benefit.