The Boston New Music Initiative announces a call for proposals of new works to be written in collaboration with visual artists. The theme of BNMI’s Tenth Season, which runs from 2018-2019, will be “The Beauty of the Line” and will aim to illuminate the relationship between visual art and music. Chosen proposals will be presented at a gallery show/performance to take place in Spring of 2019. Proposals must be for a new collaborative work created by a composer and visual artist team. Proposals from an existing composer/visual arts teams are encouraged, but composers do not need to have a visual artist already attached to their proposal to apply. Submitted musical proposals without an attached artist will be offered to a group of visual artists already committed to participating in this project. Visual artists who do not have a composer to work with, but are interested in participating in this project should contact BNMI directly.
Incorporated in 2010, BNMI aims to advance the careers of its members in the field of new music by serving as a resource for networking, professional development, commissioning, collaboration, and programming. The call is open for acoustic, electro-acoustic, and multimedia works. The competition is open to all composers with no restrictions.
Eligibility: Composers wishing to submit scores must become members of BNMI; Associate Membership is free and Full Membership is $20 a year.
Entry Fee: An entry fee for each submission. The entry fee for this competition is free for each submission for Full Members and $5 each for Associate Members.
Deadline: 31 January 2018
Awards: Chosen proposals will be presented at a gallery show/performance to take place in Spring of 2019.
Guidelines: We strongly encourage all composers to download and review the BNMI Submission Guide ahead of submitting to this competition.
Proposal
The proposal should be no more than 1000 words, and should include the following information:
Instrumentation. Works should include at least one member of BNMI’s core ensemble, which consists of Flute (doubling Piccolo, Alto Flute, or Bass Flute), Clarinet in B-flat (doubling Clarinet in A or Bass Clarinet in B-flat), Violin, Violoncello, Piano, and Percussion. Works may not use unusual or large percussion instruments (including, but not limited to, 5-octave Marimba, Tubular Bells, and Timpani). Completely or partially electronic works are acceptable.
Duration. Works can be of any duration, and the finished product may be a fixed-media installation or performance art.
Electronics. Works involving electronic elements must include information on the specific technical requirements for performance as far as they are known.
Description of Composer’s Style. Please briefly describe and give examples of your influences and interests, both musical and extra-musical as they apply to this project. Please also tell BNMI what you as a composer hope to gain or learn through this collaboration.
Description of Proposed Work. Please describe in as much detail as possible, the final product that would emerge from the proposed work.
Details
Number of Entries. There is no limit on the number of proposals a composer may submit; however, each proposal should be submitted as a separate entry.
Anonymity. All submissions must be anonymous. Scores, proposals, or other materials with names or other identifying marks will not be considered. Please remove all identifying marks from all materials (except the composer information page, see submission process below) before submitting. Please make sure no meta-data including names or identifying marks remain in submitted files. No pseudonyms or code numbers are necessary. If you have a supporting visual artist involved, please remove their names as well.
Membership. Composers wishing to submit scores must become members of BNMI; Associate Membership is free and Full Membership is $20 a year. Information on membership benefits can be found here.
File Formats. The only acceptable file formats are:
For the proposal: .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, .odt, or .pdf
For the score: .pdf
For (optional) audio recordings: .mp3 or .m4a
For video: .mov or .m4v
All other materials: .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, .odt, or .pdf
Delivery of Music. Selected composers are required to provide electronic copies of the full score and parts eight (8) weeks before the final concert. If electronics or multimedia are involved, all files required for performance and rehearsal must be submitted within the same time frame.
Permission for Use. By submitting to this call, the composer gives permission to record audio and video of any and all concerts and events hosted by or associated with BNMI in which the submitted piece is included. BNMI shall possess ownership of recorded audio and video and maintains the right to publicly distribute audio and video for promotional purposes. BNMI shall not publicly distribute the recording of any performance for financial gain.
Questions? Please address any questions to info@bostonnewmusic.org. Note: Please do NOT send submission materials to this email address as the materials cannot be submitted using this method. When submitting inquiries, please be as generic as possible, and do not include the title of your piece in the query in order to preserve anonymity.
Submission Process
Composers are asked to use our submission portal to upload the following materials (each as separate documents).
An anonymous file of the proposal (less than 1000 words).
An anonymous PDF score of a representative work from the composer.
A recording of the representative work (not required but encouraged).
An entry fee for each submission. The entry fee for this competition is free for each submission for Full Members and $5 each for Associate Members.
An information sheet containing the following:
Composer’s contact information (name, phone number, physical mailing address, email address, and website URL, if any)
Visual Artist attached to the proposal’s contact info, including links to representative works for the artist (if applicable)
Performing rights organization (ASCAP, BMI, etc.) associated with the work and/or composer, if any Composer’s year of birth (for program information only)
Composer biography (maximum 300 words), to be used if the proposal is selected. BNMI reserves the right to truncate the composer biography if it exceeds the word limit.
To Apply:
http://www.bostonnewmusic.org/submit
FAQs and Helpful Hints:
Please note that new memberships may take up to 24 hours to be approved (although usually much less). Composers signing up as new members who wish to submit to this competition should be sure to allot enough time for the approval process to complete in order to meet the January 31 deadline.
The submission portal is not available without login credentials. Composers who are not existing BNMI members should not attempt to go to the submission portal without submitting a membership application first: http://www.bostonnewmusic.org/membership in order to create login credentials.
Once your files have been added for each work, be sure to complete your payment in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Full members must have dues paid in full in order to receive full membership benefits, including discounts on Calls for Scores and commissioning competitions. For those composers submitting more than one entry, payment should be made only after ALL entries have been completed.
More questions? Please see our submission guide.