Westminster Concert Series

 

The Westminster Concert Series offers cultural enrichment to the Salt Lake community in the form of live music performances, featuring musical styles past, present and future, performed by an extraordinary cadre of local professional musicians in the heart of the Sugar House cultural district.

“Hear and Now” Commission for Emerging BIPOC Composers

"All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it."

-James Baldwin 

Westminster Concert Series (WCS) is accepting applications for the 2nd annual “Hear and Now” composition commission for emerging self-identified BIPOC composers ages 18–30. The world premiere performance of the WCS subscription concert will take place on Nov. 20, 2023. The prize includes a $4,000 commissioning fee as well as travel and lodging for the composer to attend the concert, present a talk about their artistic practice, and work with students at Westminster. 
 
The 12-15 minute composition can be for any subset of the ensemble for voice, piano, percussion, electronics, and/or violin and can include non-traditional approaches to performing.   
 
The deadline for submitting materials is July 1, 11:59 p.m. MST.  

Submission Requirements

•  2 scores with recordings
  • If live recordings are not possible, MIDI realizations are acceptable
  • Compositions that use non-traditional scores are welcome
  • If your music does not use a score at all, please submit a description on how the piece was composed or recorded
  • 1 score should be closest to the proposed instrumentation
  • 1 score should be your best work. In the case of a long or multi-movement work, please direct the committee to what you feel is your best writing
  • While this is a classical commission, all genres of music are welcome, providing the proposed work fits the instrumentation
• 1-page description of proposed work or a 1-page response to one of the following 3 prompts:
  1. How would you describe your compositional process and how would you apply that to this new work for Westminster University?
  2. What fascinates you most about the creative process, and what excites you about the sonic possibilities of the proposed instrumentation?
  3. How do you imagine and settle upon compositional structures in your compositional process, and what are some possibilities for this new piece?
• 200-word personal biography

If there are any problems providing these materials as listed or any questions about this opportunity, email Devin Maxwell at dmaxwell@westminsteru.edu.   

Complete Application