The Canary Islands Choral Composition Contest
Download contest rules in english (PDF file)
The Ainur Chamber Choir, in compliance with the objectives mentioned in the statutes under which the association is taking part, calls, as a supplementary activity of the Canarian Choral Music Week (#SCMC2016) that they also promote, a Choral Composition Contest backed by entities such as Tamaimos and Promuscan Foundation in order to continue the ceased calls in 2004 of the Canary Islands Composition and Choral Expression Awards.
Awarded compositions in this contest will be distributed to all #SCMC2016 participant choirs who will include, in their repertoire, one of these compositions that have previously followed the contest rules.
Aims:
- Encourage choral music creation from and for the Canary Islands.
- Display the wealth of choral music composed in the Canary Islands.
- Encourage new Conservatory and Music School graduated composers to engage in choral music composition.
- Create a database with folklore music arrangements scores and new compositions for Canarian choirs.
- Contribute to enrich choral repertoire with more efficient linkage to the roots and foundations of Canarian folklore music.
- Pay homage to one of the most relevant composers of the Canary Islands: Juan José Falcón Sanabria.
- Serve as a source of innovation and a meeting point of the Canarian Choral Music Week.
Contest rules:
1. This Composition Contest is contemplated within the activities of Gran Canaria’s First Canarian Choral Music Week Edition. The awards ceremony will take place during that week.
2. Addressed to the following participants:
- Professional and non-professional composers and choral music students of any nationality.
- Co-written works should be submitted together by all of their authors.
3. Categories
– Composition for an a capella choir (*). Requirements:
- The text should be, preferably, written by any poet born or resident in the Canary Islands or, in any case, based in a text that recalls these Islands. The organization will publish in www.coroscanarios.org some illustrative texts or useful literary sources of this kind always respecting their copy right laws.
- The composer needs to make sure he/she has the right to use the text.
- Compositions must last, at least, 2 minutes and 7 minutes at most.
- Compositions can be written for Mixed Voices Choirs with a minimum of 4 voices (SATB), for Equal Voices Choirs or Children’s Choirs with a minimum of 3 voices.
(*) Piano accompaniment or small ensembles will be allowed for Equal Voices
Difficulty level and musical tones of the compositions must adjust to amateur choirs and their voices
– Canarian Folklore Music Arrangements. Requirements:
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The compositions will be harmonized in relation to Canarian folklore music. In the website www.coroscanarios.org you will gradually find some reference works.
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Compositions must last, at least, 2 minutes and 6 minutes at most.
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Compositions can be written for Mixed Voices Choirs with a minimum of 4 voices (SATB), for Equal Voices Choirs or Children’s Choirs with a minimum of 3 voices.
(*) Piano accompaniment or small ensembles will be allowed for Equal Voices and Children’s Choirs.
Difficulty level and musical tones of the compositions must adjust to amateur choirs and their voices.
4. Submitted works must be original and unpublished.
5. The authors should be free to the rights of exploitation and in particular Copyrights reproduction, distribution and Public Communication.
6. Composers may submit as many works as they like.
7. Works can be submitted in a digital format to the following e-mail c4c@coroscanarios.org or by regular mail to: “Concurso de Composición C4C” C/. Sor Brígida Castelló, 3 35001, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. All scores must be clear, readable, with no deletions, written in black ink and numbered pages.
8. Participants must send as many e-mails or regular mails as works submitted.
9. Deadlines. Compositions must be submitted from the moment the contest rules are posted and before 24.00 hours on the 15th 30th of June 2016 (updated).
10. Prizes: there will be a prize for each Modality.
- Prize “Juan J. Falcón Sanabria”, 800€ for best Composition Modality.
- Prize “Promuscan”, 600€ for best Free Composition Modality written by a Canarian author.
- Prize “Fundación Tamaimos”, 500€ for best Canarian Folklore Music Arrangement.
11. The decision of the Jury will not be subject to appeal and will be made public, at most, a month after the ending of work submissions and references terms.
12. Prizes could be shared between secondary awards or noted work mentions, and even could be declared void if the Jury considers it.
13. Prizes can be cumulative, that is, there could be a composition that accomplishes both requirements of the two Modalities or that the winner for the Free Composition Modality was Canarian.
14. The Jury will be made up of, at least, four musical personalities in choir conduction and composition fields. They will, additionally, solve any incidents regarding the contest rules’ interpretation.
15. Non-awarded works will be destroyed by the Contest’s Organization.
16. The caption “Awarded Work in the Choir Composition Contest of the Canary Islands”, must appear in the awarded work headers and beside the sponsorship indicated to the author.
17. Awarded compositions will be sent to the choirs participating in the following Canarian Music Week Edition in order to be performed. And will be a part of the storage archive that the Canarian participant choirs of CCMW will have at their disposal.
18. Applicants accept the above rules unconditionally and without reservation.
Recommendations and guidelines
- It would be of special interest that Children’s Choir compositions could be dramatized.
- Integration of musical fragments that could be sung by a large number of people with barely any musical knowledge and that could be learnt in one short rehearsal will be valued, as well as musical fragments that the audience can interpret during the performance without any rehearsals, just short instructions (rythms, ostinatos, improvisations, special sounds,…).
Compositions mailing format.
Compositions should be sent in PDF format together with the original file (Musescore, Finale, Sibelius, etc.) or by a fairish written score. In both cases, the author’s name should not appear. A pseudonym or a symbol should be used in its place.
Wether your shipment is by e-mail or regular mail you must include the following details:
- A pseudonym or symbol that allows its identification with which the composition will
- be sent to the Jury.
- Full names.
- Passport number or ID card.
- Address for notification.
- Telephone number with international code.
- Brief curriculum vitae.
- Affidavit stating that the composition is original and that it has free rights of
- exploitation.
- Modality/ies in which it participates.
- Instruments that could be used (parts or voices could be requested of prize-winning
- works).
- Origin of the texts used (author, book, poem, story, extract, etc.).
- Approximate duration of the work.
