Call for scores: African female composers

The founder of Crossing Borders Music, Tom Clowes, told Music In Africa that although composers would not receive compensation for their compositions, they would have their music performed by professional musicians in front of a large general audience in the Chicago area. The performance would also be accompanied by information about the composer’s inspirations and cultural background. Additionally, Crossing Borders Music would provide a video of the 80-minute concert for the composer’s private use.

A Facebook post by Crossing Borders Music reads: “Women composers from under-recognised cultures: we need you! We’re planning a concert featuring women composers from around the world, and we want to know: has being a woman affected your musical life? If so, how?”

“We’d like to hear from you what it’s like being an African woman composer, and to programme your chamber music compositions in a concert in Chicago, IL, USA, in early 2018,” Crossing Borders Music said in a press statement.

Requirements

• Composers should submit scores attached as PDFs via an email.
• Chamber music compositions, preferably for strings and/or piano, up to a maximum of approximately 20 minutes in length.
• The call is open to all African female composers.

Clowes also touched on the importance of the event. “This particular concert will highlight music by women composers from under-recognized cultures around the world – ‘under-recognised’ in the Western-style classical music world, that is. We will look at their experiences as women composers and how being a woman has, or has not, affected their experiences composing music,” he said.

“According to our surveys, almost everyone who leaves feels more connected to the culture they just learnt about. I think this is a wonderful effect from sharing music. I think it’s especially important as here in the US we are seeing people being more vocal about their intolerance of people who are different from them.”

Clowes, who is a cellist and teacher, spoke about how the project had begun. “I started Crossing Borders Music after many years of traveling to Haiti to teach music and discovering that there’s a Western-style music composition tradition that is several hundred years old – with many wonderful composers who wrote lots of beautiful and fascinating music – that almost no one knew anything about, outside a handful of scholars.

“Also, in going to Haiti, I saw a country rich in culture, including its language, religion, music, art, proverbs, community organisations and history. In the news, I saw none of the Haiti I knew – all the news talked of was how poor Haiti was, or how poorly its government worked. I also never learnt about the ways my own country, the US, had contributed to Haitian poverty and political insecurity. Creating Crossing Borders Music was my way to show people here in the US some of the richness of Haitian culture and promote a different view of the country than what the media portrayed.”

Clowes said composers would most likely not be able to attend the concert, unless they were able to make their own travel arrangements.

Founded in 2011, Crossing Borders Music has performed music by composers from Uganda, Egypt, Haiti, Syria, Colombia, Iran and India.

For more information or to submit scores, contact Crossing Borders Music on info@crossingbordersmusic.org.