2023 Call for Scores Ensemble CONCEPT/21
Ensemble CONCEPT/21 is pleased to invite applications for the 2023 young composers competition “New Voices in Michiana” 2023. We invite young composers residing in the Michiana and extended Chicago area who are enrolled in music courses in a secondary or higher education institution and have not yet completed their Master’s degree. Four compositions will be selected for premiere video-recordings by the professional musicians of Ensemble CONCEPT/21 on April 14, 2023 in South Bend, Indiana.
Submissions must be received by January 31, 2023 at 11:59 pm EST. Decisions will be announced by February 13rd, 2023
Eligibility
Priority will be given to students enrolled in either high schools or colleges in the northern Indiana Michiana and Michiana areas (St. Joseph, Elkhart, La Porte, –include the counties in between–Marshall, and Starke Counties in Indiana and Berrien and Cass Counties in Michigan) as well as students residing in the city of Chicago.
Works should have never been publicly performed before and never published or awarded a prize in a competition.
Compositions should be no more than 10 minutes in length.
Compositions should be scored for a maximum instrumentation of flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, one performer in percussion, and piano. Smaller subsets of this instrumentation could be used, with a minimum ensemble requirement of three instruments.
Incomplete, illegible, or late applications will not be considered. The winning composers must provide professional-quality, legible parts.
The top two selected composers may be offered a scholarship for up to 30 credits a year of undergraduate study at IU South Bend or 18 credits of graduate study (subject to verification of minimum scholarship requirements in GPA/SAT and acceptance to the music composition program to start in the next academic year).
Application Process
Composers should submit a PDF file including the score notated with digital software (Finale, Sibelius, etc.) via email to ensembleconcept21@gmail.com. The email should have the subject: “Application to the 2023 IU EC/21 Composition Competition.” The name, title of the work, and a short biography should be included in the body of the message. Manuscript scores will not be accepted.
The scores included in the PDF must be anonymous for distribution to the jury; they should bear no name or any reference that could be traced to the name of the composer. Non-anonymous entries will be disqualified.
Selection Process
The creativity, quality, and idiomatic instrumental writing of the score submitted will constitute the primary evaluation criteria. It is in the applicant’s best interest that the score be clear, accurate, and the best representation of the composer’s work.
Ensemble CONCEPT/21 will evaluate the scores during the first round and make the selection of finalists.
An outside juror will make the final winning selection(s) out of the finalist works.
Submission
Email submissions must be received by January 31st, 2023 before 11:59pm EST. They should be sent to ensembleconcept21@gmail.com. Decisions will be announced February 13, 2023.