BQ String Quartet Commissions
Sponsored by The New Music Ensemble at Towson University
Announcing the winners for our String Quartet Commissions in collaboration with Towson University:
Congratulations Charles Peck & Christian Quiñones !
We are so thrilled to be working with them this year and playing their music this coming April, 2021!
A huge shoutout and thank you to all of our applicants - it was such an honor and joy for us to get a glimpse into your musical worlds and imaginations!
We’ve learnt so much from our first Call for New Works as an ensemble and human beings, and wanted to share some of our thoughts:
The Process
We want to be transparent with you on how we carried out the revision and selection process for these commissions, as it has been a phenomenal learning experience for us and we still have much to learn.
Here is a rundown:
BQ (Ledah, Sarah, Amy, and Irene) were the only adjudicators; we were helped organizationally by our project manager, Jordan Chase, who teaches at Towson University.
We had 285 applications! All identifying information was hidden from us. From the initial pool, we chose 54 applications. From that semifinal round, we chose 14 finalists, at which point names, residence location, and websites were revealed to us.
We checked out all 14 finalists carefully, explored their websites, and perused their work, considering things like how much we resonated with their body of work as a whole, how their strings writing struck us, how unique their proposal was, and to what extent their proposed piece would be conducive not only to live performance but to recording, since a studio recording is part of what we’ll be giving to the commissioned works.
Reflections
One of our priorities as a quartet has always been gender equity in our programming. We made the decision for our first 2 rounds to be anonymous to ensure we wouldn’t be biased towards applicants we knew, either personally or by name recognition. This was effective, but we made the assumption that our applicant pool would be proportionately representative across genders, and this was not at all true. We did not ask for demographic information from applicants, but after the process was complete we went back through the list of applicants to retroactively gather what demographic information we could find based on peoples’ websites, and found that roughly four fifths of the total applicants were male-identifying.
Although we are so grateful for each and every person who applied, we were reminded by this disparity in gender representation that there is a lot of work still to be done, as a community, as an ensemble, and as individuals. We want to say, unequivocally, that cultivating a musical community with more equitable gender representation remains at the top of our priorities as an ensemble and we are committed to holding ourselves accountable in our responsibility to work towards this end in our programming and commissioning going forward. We are working on creating workshop and commissioning opportunities specifically for women, and hope to especially be a resource for young women interested in exploring the field of composition.
If you have any thoughts or questions about our process, you can always reach us at bergamotquartet [at] gmail [dot] com.
[Now closed]
We are excited to open applications for the commissioning of two new works for string quartet sponsored by the New Music Ensemble at Towson University. To apply, submit required materials via this Google Form by 11:59 p.m., August 1, 2020. Individuals of any age and from any educational or stylistic background are encouraged to apply. There is no submission fee.
Direct any questions to bergamotquartetsubmissions [at] gmail [dot] com.
Details
Piece: New 8-10 minute work for string quartet
Fee: $2500 per composer
Eligibility: All US citizens or resident aliens with proper documentation are eligible to apply except individuals in any way associated with Towson University. Two composers will be selected, with a maximum of one winner from the D.C./Baltimore metro area.
The competition is open to individuals of any age and any educational and stylistic background.
The selection process will include two rounds of review. The first round will be blind.
Winners are guaranteed 1 performance and 1 professional recording at Towson University. Composers are invited to attend the performance and recording session, but additional funding for travel and accommodation will not be provided.
Submission Materials
One work sample (include up to 2 files- 1 score/sketch/visual representation in PDF or jpeg format and/or 1 audio recording; MIDI realization accepted; MP3 format required; 10MB limit); works with strings encouraged but not required. Label work samples with the title of your piece. Do not include your name.
Work samples must not contain any identifying marks. Work samples with identifying marks will automatically be disqualified.
String Quartet proposal (250 words max.) Do not include your name.
Website (SoundCloud, YouTube, or other social media accepted in absence of a website)
Timeline
August 1, 2020: Submission deadline
September 1, 2020: Winners announced; $750 disbursed to each composer
February 1, 2021: Scores due to BQ; $750 disbursed to each composer
April 21, 2021: Performance and lecture given by BQ at Towson University
April 22, 2021: Recording session at Towson University
May 15, 2021: Remaining $1000 disbursed to each composer