Composing in the Wilderness 2018

Explore the Alaska’s inspiring backcountry, compose music about it, and have it premiered by top performers.

Now in its seventh year, this one-of-a-kind creative adventure for composers is offered by the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in collaboration with Alaska Geographic and the National Park Service of the USA.

This year we’ll be offering two field courses, both of which feature an immersive back-country experience in Alaska’s national parks, and a premiere of a new chamber piece you write.

Our long-standing program in Denali National Park and Yukon-Charly Rivers National Preserve will be offered once again; but we’re also adding a second, more immersive field course that will take participants above the arctic circle on a week-long river trip through the second-largest national park in the USA and culminate with a premiere performance in New York City! This high-end option is ideal for more experienced composers, faculty members, and professionals.

Since Composing in the Wilderness filled up last year in 48 hours, we’re instituting an easy new application process. To be considered, composers must submit their materials before November 1.

See the following website for further details: http://www.composinginthewilderness.com

Torre Della Quarda – 2018

The composition competition “Torre della Quarda” is an international event; it will be a key element of Festival Internazionale di Musica di Savona and it will contribute to enrich an artistic proposal which has reached in 2018 its sixth edition.

The principal objective of the competition is to give support to the composition of new musical pieces and to promote the creativity in the musical field. Our hope is to bring the best emerging talent of composition from all over the world to Savona.

The participation will be open to competitors from all countries, without limits of age, aesthetic trends and compositional styles. Our aim is to stimulate a dynamic relationship between an active audience and authors sensitive to creative innovation. The winners will receive their awards in a special ceremony during the Festival and their compositions will be played as concerts, parts of the Festival itself.

A further aim of the competition is to act as a significant occasion of cross interaction, overcoming generational and geographical divides. Different generations of composers will have the opportunity to meet and compare their various perspectives. The same will happen between musical schools of different origins, born from different cultures but sharing the universal language of sound.

The candidates for the participation in the competition must pay a fee, under title of a donation, as a reimbursement of expenses (not refundable) of:
Euros 15 for section 1 (chamber music)
Euros 35 for section 2 (orchestra)

Scores must be received no later than 15th April 2018

For instrumentation and further information see http://www.ensemblenuovemusiche.eu/en/composition-competition-2018/

2018 Barlow Prize – $12,000 Commission

New Work for Reed Quintet

The winning composer will receive a $12,000 commission from the Barlow Endowment to compose a major new work for Reed Quintet. The winning composer’s work will be premiered in 2019 by a consortium of three quintets: Akropolis (Michigan), BYU (Utah) and the Calefax (Netherlands).

The 15-20 minute work is expected to meet the highest artistic requirements for the medium. Additional specifications for the work will be negotiated among the Barlow Endowment, the composer, and the performing consortium.

Applications and all materials must be RECEIVED before close of business on June 1st of each calendar year.

For further info see http://barlow.byu.edu/prize-applications-guidelines/

[‘tactus] Young Composers’ Forum 2017

The seventh edition of [‘tactus] Young Composers’ Forum will take place in Brussels and Mons, Belgium from September 25th to 29th, 2017, under the presence of maestri Ann McKay, Jean-Paul Dessy, Kimmo Hakola, Claude Ledoux, and others to be confirmed.

The first session, held in Brussels, Belgium from September 25th to 27th and with the collaboration of the Brussels Philharmonic, will feature writing for orchestra. Candidates are asked to submit a piece or part of a piece (movement) for symphony orchestra approximately 10 minutes in duration.

Orchestral accompaniment cannot exceed the following instrumentation:

Woodwinds in groups of 3: 3 flutes [including piccolo] – 3 oboes [including English horn] – 3 clarinets [including bass clarinet or soprano clarinet] – 3 bassoons [including contrabassoon]

Brass: 4 horns – 3 trumpets – 3 trombones – 1 tuba

Percussion: 3 players [1 timpanist and 2 percussionists]

Harp: 1 player

Strings: 14 – 12 – 9 – 8 – 6

Piano

The second session, held in Mons, Belgium from September 27th to 29th, 2017 and with the collaboration of the ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, will feature writing for chamber ensemble. Candidates are asked to submit a piece for chamber ensemble approximately 10 minutes in duration. Applicants are encouraged to submit a work with particular emphasis on either the piano and / or marimba part/s.

Instrumentation for the chamber ensemble work should not exceed the following (9 musicians):

1 flute (including piccolo, alto flute and bass flute) – 1 clarinet (including bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet) – 1 trombone – 1 guitar (including electric guitar) – percussion* – 1 piano – 1 violin – 1 viola – 1 cello.

* Accepted percussion instruments:
• 1 * timpani 20 inches
• 1 * timpani 26 inches
• 1 * timpani 29 inches
• 1 * timpani 32 inches
• 1 * concert bass drum
• 1 * tubular bells
• 1 * concert tam tam
• 1 * gong tuned . C .
• 1 * gong tuned . B .
• 1 * marimba
• 1 * vibraphone
• 3 * conga
• 3 * bongo paired 7 inches . and 8 inches 5/8
• 1 * complete drum set with 2 snares
• 1 * glockenspiel
• 1 * octave of crotales C6 – C7
• 1 * xylophone
• 2 * bar chimes
• 5 * cow bell
• a set of suspended cymbals

Composers 35 years and younger are invited to apply for one or both sessions submitting work/s as indicated in the application requirements. Candidates interested in both sessions need to submit two works (one for each session).

Launched in 2003, this biannual event offers the opportunity for young composers to increase their understanding of what is involved in writing for a symphony orchestra and chamber ensemble. A maximum of six composers, to be selected on the basis of an online submission, will be given the privilege of workshopping a work or part of a work (a movement) of about 10 minutes in length with the Brussels Philharmonic and the ensemble Musiques Nouvelles.

The working sessions will be followed by discussions in the presence of internationally renowned composers. Lectures will also be given on various aspects of composing as well as other topics related to composers’ careers, etc.

At the end of the sessions an international reading panel will select one or more works that may be programmed by a professional orchestras. In the past these have included the Orchestre National de Lille, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Flemish Radio Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Brussels Philharmonic.

The forum will end with a closing concert given by the ensemble Musiques Nouvelles in Mons, Belgium on September 29th, 2017.

Applications can be submitted exclusively online via the Ulysses platform: http://ulysses-network.eu/web/competitions/.

The deadline for submission is June 1st, 2017.

For more information see www.tactus.be

2017 Valencia International Performance Academy & Festival

The 2017 Valencia International Performance Academy & Festival is happy to announce our International Call for Applications. The VIPA Festival takes place June 28-July 8 within the state-of-the-art facilities of the Conservatorio Superior de Música Joaguín Rodrigo in the beautiful city of Valencia, Spain.

Our 2017 composition faculty includes Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann, Melinda Wagner, and Stefano Gervasoni, with guest composer José María Sánchez-Verdú and lectures on special topics by Gregorio Jiménez and Jason Thorpe Buchanan.

VIPA‘s 2017 Soloists and Ensembles-in-Residence include the critically-acclaimed Mivos Quartet, Ensemble Interface, Smash Ensemble, B3:Brouwer Trio, and flutist Erik Drescher.

Visit our website for more information, and apply by the early deadline of Jan. 15 for a lower application fee. www.vipafestival.org

International Composers Festival – University of Missouri

The Mizzou New Music Initiative is excited to announce the Eighth Annual Mizzou International Composers Festival, July 24 – 29, 2017 on the campus of the University of Missouri. July 21 and July 30 are travel days with events starting at 5PM on July 21, 2016 for selected resident composers.

Application Deadline: 5 PM Central November 18, 2016

Festival Application Submission Guidelines

Complete the online application process here: https://app.getacceptd.com/mizzou
Under the Program Groups tab, select 2017 Mizzou International Composers Festival
Under the Program tab, select Online Application

Follow the Online Application Guidelines

Pay the $22.00 application fee.

Upload three scores of original works with contrasting instrumentation.

One score must be written for chamber orchestra or large ensemble. If you have a piece scored for Alarm Will Sound’s instrumentation, listed on the webpage, please include that work as one of the three submitted scores.

Label all scores with your name and contact information.

Upload recordings of the same works. Live recordings preferred but MIDI recordings are accepted.

Upload a Resume (two page maximum)

Further information: https://music.missouri.edu/mnmi/international-composers-festival?q=mnmi%2Finternational-composers-festival-application

Tesla Quartet Call for Scores 2016

The Tesla Quartet is pleased to announce its inaugural Call for Scores. Composers are encouraged to submit completed works for string quartet for consideration, with the winning quartet receiving two performances in the spring of 2017. Any composer is eligible regardless of age, nationality, sex, color, creed, sexual orientation, marital status, disability or veteran status. The composition must be written for string quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) and must have a duration between 5 and 20 minutes.

The selection will be made using a blind evaluation process. All submissions will go to a dedicated email address, teslacallforscores@gmail.com, which will be monitored by an assistant who will transfer all the anonymous scores to the members of Tesla Quartet for review. An anonymous call prevents against any bias while selecting the work. Our decision will be made purely on quality of the music and not personal connections we may have with composers.

The winning work will receive two performances in the spring of 2017:

April 1, 2017
Mount Allison University
Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

April 8, 2017
Western Piedmont Symphony Chamber Classics
Hickory, NC

The composer of the winning work is strongly encouraged to travel to the performance and Tesla Quartet will gladly provide a travel stipend of $400 towards his/her travel expenses.

Application Deadline: All submissions must be sent and fees paid by 11:59 pm EST on December 1, 2016. Entries received after this date will not be considered.

For application process and guidelines visit: http://www.teslaquartet.com/call-for-scores-2016

Orkest : de ereprijs Invitation to the 23nd Young Composers Meeting 2017

From February 12-17, 2015 the 23rd successive International Young Composers Meeting will take place in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. The meeting is organized by orchestra de ereprijs in collaboration with the International Gaudeamus Music Week.

The directors of the 23rd meeting are Martijn Padding, Richard Ayres, Joe Cutler and Christopher Trapani.

They will get together with 16 potential and coming talents selected by the seniors. The aim of the meeting is to rehearse the young composers’ score with de ereprijs and up to 5 voices, to exchange thoughts, formulate ideas and debate about composers and composing.

The directors will offer a composition assignment to the 3 most promising composers – de ereprijs € 2.500, National Youth Orchestra € 2.500 and International Masterclass € 1.500.

The meeting is generally considered to be extremely inspiring and especially interesting for young composers.
During the week the 3-minute pieces of the selected composers will be rehearsed by orchestra de ereprijs.
There will be lectures by Louis Andriessen and the senior composers and a workshop composing for voices.
And of course the final concert, presenting all the pieces.

We hope we have aroused your interest in this project and that you will inform young (below 30 years) talented composers about the meeting and encourage them to take part in it.

Application form YCM 2017

Applications close October 15th 2016

The Esoterics’ 2016 POLYPHONOS competition

POLYPHONOS is The Esoterics’ annual competition for choral composition. The name of the competition comes from the Greek πολυφωνος, meaning “many voices” or “manifold in expression.” Now in its tenth season of hosting this competition, The Esoterics is excited to announce its international call for a cappella choral scores for POLYPHONOS.

The Esoterics is dedicated to performing and perpetuating contemporary a cappella choral settings of poetry, philosophy, and spiritual writings from around the world. The purpose of The Esoterics’ POLYPHONOS is to encourage today’s choral composers to broaden the scope of the a cappella choral repertory by setting sacred and poetical texts found beyond the Western classical canon in order to create a repertoire of choral concert music that reflects the universal beauty and power of unaccompanied voices joined in song.

2016 Competition:

Each winning composer will receive a commission from The Esoterics to plan and compose a new choral work that will be premiered by the ensemble in 2016. In addition to this commission, each of the winning composers will receive $1000 US plus airfare and accommodations to attend the Seattle premiere of their commissioned work. There will be up to three POLYPHONOS awards:

International composer’s 2016 commission (for choral composers who are not US citizens)
National composer’s 2016 commission (for choral composers who are US citizens)
Young composer’s 2016 commission (for choral composers under age 30 as of 31 December 2016)

THERE IS NO ENTRY FEE FOR THIS COMPETITION

NEW DATES for 2016!
The 2016 POLYPHONOS submission deadline is 25 September.
All applications must be complete and received by that date.
The winners of the competition will be announced on or around 1 October.

For more information, visit http://www.theesoterics.org/polyphonos

ISCM 2017 Vancouver – Call for Works

The official Call for Works is now released for ISCM’s World New Music Days 2017, to be held in Vancouver, Canada from November 2 – 8, 2017.

This very exciting 7-day festival and international gathering promises the chance to hear music from over 50 countries played by world-class performers, and unprecedented networking opportunities amongst the global community of composers and performers of new music. For detailed information about the Call for Works and the Festival, see http://iscm2017.ca

CANZ is the official NZ member (Section) of the ISCM, and will be selecting and submitting six works as our Official Submission. We now invite members to submit works to CANZ for consideration. The deadline for submission to CANZ is Monday 31st October 2016. Please send all materials electronically to kiosk@paradise.net.nz. Receipt will be acknowledged of your submission. If for some reason you do not receive such acknowledgement, please send an inquiry to CANZ President (and ISCM Vice-President) Glenda Keam .

You must be a current member of CANZ to make a submission to our official NZ entry (if you wish to join CANZ, please see http://canz.net.nz/join-canz/ ) All works must have been written no earlier than 2006, and priority will be given to works completed in 2011 or later. ISCM will give preference to compositions no longer than 12 minutes. The Official Submission from CANZ will include works fitting at least four of the 14 submission categories. The range of score/project categories is particularly (and excitingly) broad – it is essential that you ensure your entry matches the specifications for one of the categories, described in detail here: http://iscm2017.ca/categories/

In order to submit works in the official NZ entry, CANZ requires the following:
1. The composer’s personal and contact information: Given names; Family name; Name as it should appear in the programme; Date of birth; full Mailing address; Gender; Phone no.; email address; website (if applicable).
2. Composition Information: Title; Submission Category; Accurate duration; Year of composition; Statement of whether the work has been previously performed in Canada; Statement of whether the work has been previous performed outside Canada.
3. The score (PDF document preferred), or audio/video documentation if the work does not have a written score.
4. An audio or video recording of the work (if possible).
5. Programme notes for the submitted work in English (maximum 100 words).
6. Technical rider specifying all equipment necessary to perform the work.
7. Short biography of the composer in English (maximum 100 words).
8. Proof of nationality of the composer (copy of passport or identity card).
9. High-resolution digital photograph of the composer.

Individual Submissions are also welcomed by ISCM, and must be submitted online direct to the ISCM in English – see http://iscm2017.ca/individual-subs/. An entry fee of €53.50 applies to Individual Submissions, payable at the time of submission.

Selected works for the ISCM World New Music Days 2017 will be announced in March, 2017.

ISCM World New Music Days 2017 is jointly presented by:

The International Society for Contemporary Music

The International Society for Contemporary Music Canadian Section

The Canadian League of Composers/La LigueCanadienne des Compositeurs

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