"North Winds, South Winds"

A concert of New Zealand wind music by the Auckland Wind Orchestra, conducted by Ryan Youens.

Don’t miss this wonderful event featuring selections from New Zealand’s finest wind music.

Aue! – Christopher Marshall
The Ballad of Settler McGee – Philip Norman
Earthbound Wings – Yvette Audain
Far Star – Matthew Crawford
Forest Sketches – David Woodcock
Guardians of the North – Ryan Youens

Including two premieres:
The Pensieve – Zyia-Li Teh
Rotorua – Phillip Anderson

$10 waged, $5 unwaged (door sales only)

www.awo.co.nz

SHAKUHACHI CHAMBER MUSIC INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2010

Entries are invited for new compositions for shakuhachi with piano trio (piano, violin, cello).

Finalist compositions for this international competition will be performed and recorded in Melbourne, Australia. For details about instrumentation, eligibility, duration, Judging, Prize Money, concerts, please visit the competition site (below).

Closing date for entries is 26th February 2010.

SOME IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS:
1. Winning composers will be offered a publishing agreement with Australian Publisher REED MUSIC.
2. Visit the competition website to listen to samples of 2008 competition winning entries.

www.shakuhachichambermusic.com

Ross Harris wins SOUNZ Contemporary Award

Ross Harris has won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award for the fourth time with his Symphony III. The other finalists were Jack Body (My Name is Mok Bhon) and Michael Norris (Volti).

The win was announced at the APRA-hosted Silver Scroll event in Christchurch on Thursday 17 September.

Read the full article at SOUNZ.

NZ composers on NZ On Screen

NZ On Screen, an initiative created with the aim of making some 15,000 hours of historic New Zealand television available to New Zealanders for free, has recently added some excellent items about New Zealand composers.

Click here to see a young Chris Cree Brown navigating his way around the Canterbury EMS in 1980. Includes a detour to a resonant space down the hall and the preparation of an upright piano with dangling ping pong balls.

This 2005 Artsville piece is an excellent insight into Gareth Farr’s life as a freelance composer, from Lilith Lacroix, to music for drama productions, to work with the NZSO and The Song Company.

Look out for further NZ composition related additions to NZ On Screen, including the 1987 Kaleidoscope feature about the CANZ Nelson Composers Workshop – coming soon.

ACO: A Resonance of Emerald

The Auckland Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Peter Scholes, and with special guest Helen Medlyn, performs a ‘composer portrait’ of Eve de Castro Robinson.

Sunday 13 September 2009 5:00 PM

“And as for ‘why do I compose?’ There seems to be an inner surge of creative energy which must spring out and manifest itself in musical form. This usually involves much gazing out at trees and water (two life forces) and summoning up embryonic flickers and traces of sounds and ideas which may agree to be shaped and manipulated into larger forms and structures.

“I’m continually trying to figure out how to bridge the gap between being able to allow something to come into being and then to make some personal ‘concrete’ sense of it. I do try to achieve a balance between the peace of mind necessary for depth and clarity of contemplation, and the open and trusting (and therefore extremely vulnerable) state of being that is creative. I can only compose from inner conviction and speak with my heart. And I often return to a statement by Berio, who sees music as ‘a gift to be given and a gift to be received’ “.


http://sounz.org.nz/events/show/1206

http://www.aco.co.nz/2009-a-resonance-of-emerald.php

Long Island Arts Council Sixth International Musical Composition Contest

The Long Island Arts Council at Freeport is now sponsoring its Sixth International Musical Composition Contest, open to composers of all ages around the world. The work, from 3 to 5 minutes in length, should be for an instrumental or voice student between the ages of 14 through 17, with piano accompaniment, both parts geared to the level of a student with five to seven years of experience. Though contemporary, the work should be appealing to a young person. The winning composition will be performed in the year 2010, at which time the composer will be awarded $500. The deadline for submissions is a postmark no later than November 30, 2009.

Judging will take place in December. Entrants should include a page containing their name, address, phone, e-mail address, a brief bio, and a check for $15 for each work submitted made payable to the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport. A CD or audiotape is required. If the material is to be returned, a self-addressed, stamped envelope should be included. The Long Island Arts Council at Freeport cannot assume responsibility for loss or damage in transit. The composer’s real name should not appear anywhere on the score or recording. Please list a pseudonym instead. Payment from overseas should be made by Western Union, made out to Marnie Katzman, Executive Director (please include confirmation number with the score) or through PayPal (visit the Arts Council’s website at www.liacfreeport.org andclick “Support Us” on the left side of the homepage). For the return of foreign scores, please attach an international reply coupon to the return envelope.

Please send submissions to:
Composition Contest, Long Island Arts Council at Freeport, 130 East Merrick Road, Freeport, NY 11520.

Please direct any questions to huray@optonline.net, call (516) 223-2522, or fax (516) 223-69

Contest Chair: Herb Rothgarber
Open to composers of all ages around the world
Deadline: November 30, 2009
Prizes: Performance of winning composition and cash prize of $500