The Night With… 2019 Call for Score for Emerging Composers

The Night With…

Call for scores for The Hermes Experiment (soprano, clarinet, harp, double bass)

Deadline 1st October 2019

Workshop in Scottish Music Centre, 24th November

Concerts week of 25th November

The Night With… announces its third call for scores for emerging composers for works for The Hermes Experiment to be performed at The Night With… The Hermes Experiment concerts in November part of the 2019 Season. The concert will also include works by Matthew Grouse, Josephine Stephenson, Robin Haigh and Meredith Monk.

From the initial submissions up to five works will be chosen for a workshop with The Hermes Experiment on 24th November in the Scottish Music Centre, Glasgow (time tbc). Fewer may be selected at the discretion of the judges. One of the five works will be chosen to feature in The Night With… concerts later in the week. This call for scores is as much about finding and developing interesting new music and composers as finding a new work that will fit within the programme.

Scores will be assessed entirely anonymously and The Night With…, as an inclusive organisation based in Scotland, particularly welcomes applications from emerging female and non-binary composers.

All scores must be submitted under a pseudonym. Any scores with identifying marks will be discarded.

The shortlist will be chosen by a panel consisting of representatives from The Hermes Experiment, Matthew Whiteside (CEO/Artistic Director of The Night With…) and a composer external from the programme.

Works are ideally for the full quartet (soprano, clarinet, harp, double bass). Subsets of the ensemble down to duo will be accepted but are not encouraged. Solo pieces will not be accepted.

Instrument specific information:

-Soprano range: middle C (C4) to high C (C6)

-Double bass has a low C extension

-You can write for and/or include the bass clarinet in your piece

Submissions can be between 5 and 10 minutes long.

Pieces must not have been premiered, however they do not necessarily have to be written for this call.

It is the responsibility of the composer to acquire any rights or permissions to text used in the pieces. By submitting to this call for scores the composer confirms that these have been obtained.

It is recognized that composers can begin their career at any age. Therefore ‘emerging’ is defined by the composer themselves though will be at the discretion of judges. Example definitions of emerging include:

Currently in education or recently left

Have worked with an orchestra for a development opportunity (e.g. RSNO Composers Hub, LSO Soundhub) but not received regular commissions orchestral or otherwise

Not have an exclusive agreement with a publisher

These are not exhaustive examples.

It is intended that the workshop will be documented through recording and photography/film. This is so that the composers involved will have a read-through recording and/or video of their work for their own non-commercial use (e.g. Soundcloud).

Attendance at the workshop is required. There is a small bursary available to cover travel and accommodation expenses of those selected.

The workshop will be open to the public and free to attend.

Submission Process

Send all submissions matthew@thenightwith.com with the subject line ‘The Hermes Experiments call for scores – [pseudonym]’ . Within the email include:

an anonymous PDF score with pseudonym. Filename format: ‘[pseudonym]_[piece-name]’

a midi mockup of the piece (optional)

text of the piece

biography, up to 350 words in Word format, of composer (this will not be used for judging the shortlist, only for eligibility and marketing if shortlisted)

headshot

The Night With… is a concert series run by composer Matthew Whiteside (www.matthewwhiteside.co.uk) to perform interesting music in a relaxed environment. The intention is to develop it into a monthly concert series running for six months of the year to include new commissions performed by the highest quality players both Scottish and international and promoting music from all eras but with a bias toward contemporary. www.thenightwith.com

The Hermes Experiment

Winners of the Royal Overseas League Mixed Ensemble Competition 2019, Tunnell Trust Awards 2017, Park Lane Group Young Artists 2015/16 and winners of Nonclassical’s Battle of the Bands 2014, The Hermes Experiment is a contemporary quartet made up of harp, clarinet, voice and double bass. Capitalising on their deliberately idiosyncratic combination of instruments, the ensemble regularly commissions new works, as well as creating their own innovative arrangements and venturing into live free improvisation. The ensemble has commissioned over 50 composers at various stages of their careers. Recent highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall, BBC Radio 3 Open Ear at LSO St Luke’s, Tallinn Music Week, St Petersburg’s Sound Ways Festival, Southbank Centre, Kings Place and Spitalfields Festival.

The Hermes Experiment are one of this year’s showcase artists the Classical Next Conference 2019. In January 2019, they celebrated their fifth birthday with a concert supported by Arts Council England and RVW Trust, and recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The ensemble also strives to create a platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration. In June 2015, they created a ‘musical exhibition’ with photographer Thurstan Redding, and in September 2016 during an Aldeburgh Music Residency, they developed a new interpretation of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.

The ensemble is also dedicated to the value of contemporary music in education and community contexts. In 2014-15, they took part in Wigmore Hall Learning’s schemes, and they are ensemble in residence for the Young Music Makers of Dyfed 2018-19. In 2017-18, they worked with composition students from both The Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban. They are running similar projects in 2018-19 at both institutions.

The quartet has received funding from Arts Council England, Aldeburgh Music, the RVW Trust, Hinrichsen Foundation, Britten-Pears Foundation, Future of Russia Foundation, Oleg Prokofiev Trust, Nicholas Boas Charitable Trust, PRS for Music Foundation and Help Musicians UK.

http://www.thehermesexperiment.com/ https://twitter.com/TheHExperiment

The Night With… Call for Scores is supported by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland Open Project Funding.

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland