Aural Compass Project Hosts Emerging Composers Competition

Aural Compass Projects, a musical arts organization dedicated to performing and promoting new and underperformed works, is hosting their 1st Emerging Composers Competition this season. Three winners will be chosen, each of whom will receive a cash prize of $250, in addition to having their submitted work produced, performed, and recorded as part of a future project. The submission window opens September 1, 2020 and closes at 11:59pm EST on December 1, 2020. Geared to current composition students of all ages, whether studying in a university program or privately, the goal of ACP's competition is to encourage a new generation to engage deeply and honestly with the genre of classical art song through a culturally relevant lens.

All submissions must have been composed after September 1st of 2019 for solo voice, a cappella, or accompanied by 1-2 instruments, and be at least three minutes in length. Composers must set texts for which they have secured copyright clearance, OR texts that are in the public domain, OR texts written by the composer themselves. More details regarding these requirements can be found here.

While not a requirement, composers are encouraged to source texts from within their own communities. Regardless of the source of the poetry, texts should be written from the perspective of, or about, a demographic, or on a topic, that the composer feels is traditionally underrepresented in classical music. Should the text be in a language other than English, a translation should be included in the submission. Aural Compass Project's mission statement serves as a guideline in the choice of texts:

Aural Compass Projects is a musical arts organization dedicated to performing new and less-performed works. We strive to develop a moral compass which guides our work in aspiring towards equality and better representation in the music we produce.

Winners will be announced in January 2021. To submit to ACP's inaugural competition (click here).