Early Music Scholars' Competition in San Francisco

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Chalice Consort
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Joined: 13 Oct 2009 22:03

Early Music Scholars' Competition in San Francisco

Post by Chalice Consort »

http://chaliceconsort.org/emsc.html

The Early Music Scholars Competition (EMSC) is a competition presented by Chalice Consort to foster the discovery of early music choral scores.This year's conference will feature guest directors Jeremy Summerly, David Trendell, Davitt Moroney, and Geoffrey Webber.

For the 2009/2010 EMSC, we will focus on unaccompanied choral pieces. In future years, we hope to include accompanied choral works as well.

Each scholar participating in this competition is asked to submit his/her editorial work of a piece that is unpublished (either online or offline in modern edition), has never been publicly performed, and that complements the focal piece of the subsequent Early Music Mining Conference (EMMC): Thomas Ashwell's Missa Ave Maria.

For the first annual EMMC in April 10, 2010, the focal piece is the Missa Ave Maria by the 16th-century English composer Thomas Ashwell. From the submissions received, five pieces will be presented at the EMMC, and from those, two will be selected for performance by Chalice Consort at a future concert.

Submission Rules for 2009

1. An unaccompanied choral piece from any country of origin that complements Thomas Ashwell’s Missa Ave Maria. In the accompanying one-page summary, please explain the criteria that make you feel the piece is complementary to the Ashwell mass.

Chalice Consort welcomes submissions that share features with the mass (for example: rhythm, mode, liturgical function, etc.) or that provide contrast to the mass (for example: chant, secular music, etc). The submitter must make the case for the pairing.
2. You must submit a one-page summary in English of the newly-discovered and edited work to accompany the score submission. (Chalice Consort will provide the one-page summary template to be filled out.)
3. The piece should be no more than eight minutes in length. If you have multiple movements, select one to submit and note that it is part of a larger piece, under Editor’s Notes on your one-page summary (see below).
4. If your piece is for more than eight voices, please contact Chalice Consort at chaliceconsort@yahoo.com about voicing before you submit it. Maximum 16 voice parts -- which is one-on-a-part for Chalice Consort.
5. The score must be edited using music notation software; we will not accept hand-written scores.
6. Please submit your scores in PDF format AND your one-page summary describing the piece. Email your submission to chaliceconsort@yahoo.com.
7. Deadline for submission: December 31, 2009. Chalice Consort will announce the five pieces selected for inclusion at the EMMC no later than January 31, 2010.

How Submissions Will Be Judged:

1. Chalice Consort will sing through all the submissions and select the top five pieces to review at the EMMC.
2. The submissions will be judged on the following:
* Does the piece adhere to the submission rules stated above?
* Does the piece complement Thomas Ashwell’s Missa Ave Maria? (See above for definition.)
* Aesthetics
- Beauty of the piece
- Impact of the piece
- Interesting to sing
- Good balance of challenge vs. reward
* Compositional technique
- Interesting structure
- Good compositional skill
* Edition
- Easy to read
- Editorial choices are sound from a scholarly point of view (e.g. ficta, meter changes, pitch, etc)
- Free of mistakes
3. Does the 1-page summary sufficiently describe the piece and editorial work?
4. At the conference, the panel of our guest directors and musicologists will discuss your work.
5. The attendees of the conference will vote for their favorite two pieces to be performed by Chalice Consort at a future concert.

Benefits & Awards:

1. $250 for each of the five pieces selected to be presented at the upcoming EMMC.
2. Each selected piece may be recorded and sold by Chalice Consort, subject to appropriate copyright arrangements. Chalice Consort has the first right of refusal to be the first to record and sell the recordings for 18 months after the conference date.
3. The editors’ one-page summaries for the selected five pieces will be posted at ChaliceConsort.org.
4. The selected five pieces may be published online and available for sale online at ChaliceConsort.org – details of the publishing contract TBA.
5. The editors of the selected five pieces will be able to present the discovery and the editorial work at the EMMC (30 minutes, plus moderated discussion)
6. Two pieces selected by attendees at the conference will be performed by Chalice Consort at the SFEMS Fringe Concert Series of the Berkeley Festival in 2010
7. An additional prize of $250 will be awarded to each of the two pieces chosen at the EMMC for performance at the Fringe Festival
8. There will be opportunity for directors at the conference to arrange to perform any of the five works in other parts of the world.

If you have questions, please contact us.


Thank you,

Katie Bank
kbank@chaliceconsort.org
San Francisco, CA
Last edited by Chalice Consort on 22 Oct 2009 17:55, edited 1 time in total.
vaarky
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Re: Early Music Scholar's Competition in San Francisco

Post by vaarky »

Thanks for posting. What a great idea! Marking my calendar for the conference and will pass it along to some recent musicology grad students I know.

BTW, William Mundy's Vox Patris Caelestis would pair *beautifully* with the Ashwell but has already been published and recorded...
pml
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Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Re: Early Music Scholar's Competition in San Francisco

Post by pml »

Hi Vaarky,

Indeed, Vox Patris was edited in the venerable EECM series - and I got to sing it for the first time, just on Monday night two days ago... what a hoot. But it's a bit long to fit with the Ashwell - twenty minutes, when the competition is for a maximum 8-minute-long work!

Regards, PML
vaarky
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Joined: 22 Aug 2008 07:28

Re: Early Music Scholar's Competition in San Francisco

Post by vaarky »

Yup, just wishful thinking. I've sung every piece in that EECM book--a fantastic collection.
Chalice Consort
Posts: 2
Joined: 13 Oct 2009 22:03

Re: Early Music Scholar's Competition in San Francisco

Post by Chalice Consort »

Thanks Vaarky,

We are pretty excited about it as well-- pass it along! We need submissions!

-Katie
katie@chaliceconsort.org
vaarky
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Posts: 2163
Joined: 22 Aug 2008 07:28

Re: Early Music Scholar's Competition in San Francisco

Post by vaarky »

One of the folks I sent it to is thinking of submitting a piece and plans to contact you with some questions.
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