2023 Franco Composition Contest (deadline: November 1, 2022)
2023 Franco Composition Contest
Two monetary prizes (US$2,000 for first place and US$1,000 for second place) will be awarded, in addition to a number of performance awards (US$150) made solely at the Committee’s discretion. The GCNA will publish the first and second place compositions, and performance award compositions will be given the option of GCNA publication. All compositions awarded prizes and performance recognition will have the opportunity to be performed at the GCNA Congress in 2023.
Eligibility: The contest is open to all, regardless of age or nationality (except: 1) current members of the Franco Committee may not enter the submission-based contest; 2) the first-prize winner of the 2021 Franco contest may not enter the 2023 contest; 3) the two composers selected in the Proposal Contest below may not enter this contest).
Submissions: Composers are asked to submit original compositions, not arrangements or transcriptions of existing works. Each composer may submit only one work. Compositions can be of any duration. Many carillon pieces tend to be 3-6 minutes in length. The jury does not favour entries based on duration.
The composition must be playable by a solo carillonneur on a four-octave carillon: 48 bells (c, d, … chromatic to c4 with low C# omitted), with a 2-octave pedalboard (c, d, … c2). Composers may wish to limit their pedalboard to 1.5 octaves (cod, … chromatic to g1), as many carillons (particularly European standard) do not include pedals above g1. Notating bells outside of the 48-bell range is permitted provided that substitutions are given in the 48-bell range. Compositions that have already been performed or published are ineligible. Public performance of any winning composition prior to the 2023 GCNA congress will be grounds for disqualification.
Submissions must be received by November 1, 2022. Composers may submit works via email to Joey Brink at franco@gcna.org. Submissions will be anonymized for the jury. Please do not include your name or any identifying information on the composition itself. Instead, please separately include your contact information.
Composing for the Carillon: Composers less familiar with the carillon can learn more from:
“Composing for the Carillon: Recommendations and Examples” by John Gouwens. The document is available here: carillon.vrvisuals.com and the corresponding video is available here: carillon.vrvisuals.com.
“Composing for Carillon” by Joey Brink: nmbx.newmusicusa.org
Prizes: The jury guarantees the awarding of both First Prize and Second Prize. The jury reserves the right to award any number of Performance Awards. Each composition can only receive one of the three prizes.
First prize: US$2,000. Premiered at the 2023 congress.
Second prize: US$1,000. Premiered at the 2023 congress.
Performance Awards: US$150. May be awarded at the discretion of the Franco Committee to any number of submitted compositions that, if the composer wishes, will be published and premiered at the 2023 congress.
Publication & Copyright: First and second prize-winning compositions will be published by the GCNA in accordance with its generally applicable rules. Thus, by entering the contest, entrants agree to sign over publishing rights to the GCNA if awarded first or second prize. Performance awards will be given the option for publication.
The composers who receive first prize and second prize will be required: (a) To assign to the GCNA all publication rights of the composition; and (b) To warrant to the GCNA that the composition does not violate any existing copyright in whole or in part, and that she/he/they have the lawful right to authorize publication of the composition. If the composer has any arrangement with any performing rights organizations, such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SOCAN, and the like, the composer will be required to instruct the affiliated organization not to collect performance fees solely on the basis of this composition. (In some cases, this may entail waiving rights to performance royalties.) First and second prize-winning compositions will be published and distributed by the GCNA. Composers that receive Performance Awards will be offered publication with the GCNA if they wish. Compositions that do not win a prize will remain the sole property of the composer. Judges’ copies of the compositions will be destroyed following the contest.
The Jury: The seven voting members of the Franco Committee serve as the jury in this contest: Margaret Angelini, Linda Dzuris, Alex Johnson, Thomas Lee, Scott Orr, Tiffany Ng, and Charles Zettek. The jury will evaluate submissions based on their effectiveness on the carillon, playability, originality, and general musical interest.
To preserve anonymity of the composers, we ask that composers refrain from contacting, directly or indirectly, any members of the jury. Questions may be directed to Joey Brink at franco@gcna.org.
Key Dates:
November 1, 2022: Submissions due to franco@gcna.org
March 1, 2023: Announcement of prizes
June 2023: Scores published and premiered at 2023 GCNA congress
Deadline 1 November 2022
Website gcna.org
