In celebration of its 10th Anniversary, Ensemble Companio seeks to commission a new work for our 2020-2021 concert season from a US-based composer whose identity/ies and/or experiences are underrepresented in choral music.

Entitled “The Road Home”, the 10th Anniversary concert program will explore themes of home, returning, and belonging. Other works included in this season will range from music of the medieval period to contemporary compositions; examples of Ensemble Companio’s previous season programming can be found at http://www.ensemblecompanio.org/concerts.

The winning composer will be awarded: 

• $2,000 in commission fees.
• The opportunity to workshop the piece with Ensemble Companio in early 2021
• Defrayed travel expenses* for workshop and world premiere** (March 2021)
• Live recording of the commissioned work

The commissioned work will fit the following specifications:

• Approximately 5-7 minutes in length
• Unaccompanied SATB choir (divisi optional)
• Must address themes of home, returning, and/or belonging
• Text to be selected in collaboration with artistic director

There is no fee required to enter this competition.

Please submit the following materials (in .pdf form unless otherwise noted) via email to compositions@ensemblecompanio.org by 11:59pm on October 18th, 2019:

• Current CV
• Complete works list
• Three sample scores and corresponding recordings.
  • All submitted scores must have been previously performed. Please include performance date, location, and performing ensemble for each work.
  • At least one score must be for unaccompanied SATB choir (opt. divisi)
  • Recordings may be in any common format, including but not limited to: .mp3 files, links to YouTube/SoundCloud, etc. MIDI files may be included only if no live recordings are available.
• Proposal
  • Please respond, in writing, to the following:
    • Why are you interested in writing for Ensemble Companio?
    • How do themes of home, returning, and belonging resonate with you personally, and how do you intend to address these themes musically if selected?  Sketches, potential texts, scores, etc. are welcome but not required.
    • Optional: How would selecting you align with our intent to commission a composer whose identity/ies and/or experiences are underrepresented in choral music?

All components of your submission will be taken into account holistically during the selection process. We ask that your refrain from including any unsolicited materials, including (but not limited to) additional scores, recordings, or written components not requested above. This may result in your submission being disqualified. All written components and scores must be submitted in .pdf format. Late submissions and submissions that do not meet the criteria above will not be considered.

Ensemble Companio almost exclusively performs unaccompanied SATB choral works.  While you are welcome to submit up to two scores for other voicings, instrumentations, etc. in your materials, we encourage competitors to be mindful that scores for unaccompanied SATB choir will be most informative to our selection process.

We welcome any questions, wish you the best of luck, and look forward to reviewing your entry!

*The Ensemble intends to defray reasonable travel costs for the winner, in whole or in part, subject to prior approval and available resources in the applicable season(s).

**Or other season concert as negotiated.