Beth Morrison Projects Announces Open Applications for NEXT GEN Composer Competition Cycle 3

Beth Morrison Projects has announced open applications for the third edition of NEXT GEN, the company's composer competition program for contemporary vocal works. 

The competition will be accepting first round applications beginning July 1st, 2024 with a deadline on September 9th, 2024. Ten selected first round semifinalists will participate in a weekend of live performances at National Sawdust in New York City November 24th and 25th, 2024. Two second round finalists will be chosen at the November live performances for a final round. Further details for final round date and location are yet to be announced. Applications for NEXT GEN Cycle 3 can be accessed HERE.

About the call for applications, President & Creative Producer Beth Morrison said, "We at BMP are always in search of the newest generation of voices in composition of opera theatre. Next Gen is our effort to connect with these most brilliant young minds. I cannot wait to review the incredible amount of creative, provocative, and genre defying works we have received in previous years. Reviewing these materials has and continues to assure me we are living in a new golden age of contemporary opera-theatre."

Previous NEXT GEN Cycle recipients include Emma O'Halloran (Cycle 1), who debuted her commissioned double bill work TRADE | MARY MOTORHEAD at PROTOTYPE Festival 2023 to critical acclaim, and has since seen the production tour to LA Opera; and Niloufar NourBakhsh (Cycle 2) who won the competition with her work Threshold of Brightness and has since been commissioned for a full length work premiering in coming BMP Seasons. 

Find the application here.

Eligibility

• The composer must be still in school, or within four years of graduating from any degree granting program (undergraduate, Masters or PhD).
• The composer must be either a US Citizen, Permanent Resident or currently matriculating on a student visa.
• The composer must not have previously been commissioned by a US Opera Company.
• The composer must be available from November 15 to be in New York City for rehearsals and the two performances.
• Beth Morrison Projects will provide travel and housing to those selected who live outside of the greater New York area.

Submission Requirements

• The composer must complete the application (link above) including: a letter of recommendation, a bio, a full score of the work, libretto of the work, and recording of the work.
• The submitted work must be a vocal work, either a stand-alone song or an aria or other vocal piece from a larger work.
• Electronics and amplified voices are fine
• The work must be no longer than 10 minutes
• The work must have no more than 8 singers and 10 instrumentalists
• The work must have been written within the last 5 years.
• We will accept live or midi recordings (live recording strongly preferred) in online form (Soundcloud, YouTube, Vimeo, etc).
• The Composer must have proof that all underlying rights to the work are secured, if applicable.
• Submissions are due by 11:59 pm EST on September 9, 2024

First Round: Semi-Finals

Following the July 1st - September 9th submission period, ten compositions will be selected for the first round of Next Gen. Each of these selected works will be presented at National Sawdust over the weekend of November 23 & 24. There will be a two-hour rehearsal for each composition during the week of November 15th - 20th followed by technical rehearsals between November 21st - 23rd, and one dress rehearsal. At the end of all the performances, our panel of industry professionals will select two composers to move forward to the second round (finals) of Next Gen which will take place in 2025.  Application

About Next Gen

First launched in 2017-18, the BMP: Next Gen program was established to help BMP stay connected to a new generation of composers, singers and artists just coming out of school who are interested in composing opera and music-theatre. Aspiring composers from coast to coast are invited to submit vocal works up to ten minutes in length. Out of these submissions, ten first round semi finalists will be selected and their vocal works produced by BMP in a weekend program of new vocal music. Two composers are then chosen by a panel of invited industry professionals to win commissions for 30-minute vocal-theatre works for the next round of the competition, which will take place in 2025 with a showcase of each finalist's work. Ultimately, one of these two finalists will be selected to commission an evening-length vocal-theatre work, including the development and World Premiere production of their composition. To date, Beth Morrison Projects has completed 2 cycles of Next Gen with Emma O'Halloran & Niloufar NourBakhsh as previous winners. 

About Beth Morrison Projects

Founded in 2006 to support the work of living composers and their multi-media collaborators, Beth Morrison Projects encourages risk-taking, creating a structure for new work that is unique to the artist and allows them to feel safe to experiment and push boundaries. Noted as “the edge of innovation" (Opera News), Beth Morrison Projects is a “contemporary opera mastermind” (Los Angeles Times) and “its own genre" (Opera News). Projects have been performed innumerous premier venues around the world including Brooklyn Academy of Music, Disney Hall, The Barbican, Lincoln Center, The Walker Art Center, The Beijing Music Festival, The Holland Festival, and more. Current and upcoming projects include works by composers Mohammed Fairouz, Michael Gordon, Ted Hearne, Mikael Karlsson, David Lang, David T. Little, Keeril Makan, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Elvis Perkins, Paola Prestini, Ellen Reid, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Jeremy Schonfeld and more, with directors Mallory Catlett, James Darrah, Rachel Dickstein, Lee Sunday Evans, Daniel Fish, Patricia McGregor, Kevin Newbury, Jay Scheib, and Ashley Tata.

To post a comment, you must register and login.