Call for scores: International Composition Competition in the US

Founded in 1973, Garth Newel Music Centre is one of the most active chamber music organisations in the country. Its resident ensemble – the Garth Newel Piano Quartet –performs more than 60 concerts annually both at the centre and on tour. Through this competition, the quartet seeks to broaden the piano quartet repertoire and to support the centre’s ongoing commitment to contemporary music.

The winners will receive:

• The Glovie and Dick Lynn New Music Prize ($3 000).
• A performance of the winning work by the Garth Newel Piano Quartet during the 2022 Summer Music Festival.
• A travel stipend to work with the Garth Newel Piano Quartet and attend the premiere in Hot Springs, Virginia.
• Frequent performances and a high-quality video recording of the winning work by the Garth Newel Piano Quartet.
• The opportunity to participate in a short-term residency in conjunction with the premiere. This residency will take place during Garth Newel’s prestigious Emerging Artist Fellowship chamber music programme.
• The winner will have the opportunity to work closely with the Garth Newel Piano Quartet and Emerging Artist Fellows, with the possibility of readings and performances of the composer’s other chamber works.
• Collaborate and network with talented musicians from top music schools.

Guidelines

• Submitted works must be for violin, viola, cello and piano. Piano trios and quintets are not accepted.
• There is no time limit for works.
• Submissions from any composer, regardless of age or citizenship, are welcome.
• The work must be originally conceived as a piano quartet. Arrangements of previously completed works that have been performed or published are not acceptable

Compositions are ineligible if:

• They require live electronics or cannot be performed with just stereo playback.
• The work has already received a professional premiere (a student performance within the school community is allowed).
• They are a transcription or arrangement of another work that has been performed or published.
• They have already been professionally recorded for commercial CD release.
• The work, in any instrumentation, has been published.

Each composer must submit:

• A legible score and parts of professional quality labelled with a pseudonym. No marks identifying the composer may appear anywhere on the score. The title of the work is permissible.
• An envelope labelled with the composer’s pseudonym. Information within the envelope should include the composer’s name, address, telephone number, email address and one-paragraph biography.
• A digital recording of the work labelled with the composer’s pseudonym (CDs or flash drives are acceptable). MIDI realisations are acceptable.
• A self-addressed stamped envelope of appropriate size if the composer wishes to have their materials returned.

All materials should be mailed to:

Composer Competition
Garth Newel Music Centre
403 Garth Newel Lane
Hot Springs, VA 24445

For electronic submission:

• Email the score, instrumental parts and audio file under a pseudonym to pianoquartet@garthnewel.org along with the composer’s info in a PDF/Word document labelled ‘Do not open until after the results are determined’.
• Recordings that are too big can be sent via Dropbox or Google Drive. Composers should label the titles of digital tracks with the composition name as well as the composer’s pseudonym.

All materials must be received before 1 November and applicants will be notified of the results via email not later than 31 January 2022.

Email jeannette@garthnewel.org for further information or questions.

View the original call here.