UnTwelve announces 2011 Microtonal Composition Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 2011-10-18Chicago, IL - UnTwelve is pleased to offer our third annual competition for composers in the budding field of new tunings, temperaments, and microtonality. The competition welcomes new works of recorded music which reflect the potential of using tunings systems and temperaments other than 12-tone equal temperament.
First prize is $500.00 (USD); we will also recognize 2nd prize ($250) and 3rd prize ($150) finalists. A new category of Performance Awards has been added this year in partnership with MicroFest. Works for solo retuned digital piano will be eligible to receive a premiere performance and CD recording by virtuoso pianist Aron Kallay as part of MicroFest 2012 in the Los Angeles area.
Eligibility Rules
- The contest is international and open to persons of all ages, except board members or direct affiliates to UnTwelve.
- There is no required fee for submission.
- Only one work per applicant will be considered.
- Works must be between 4 and 10 minutes in length.
- Works submitted must be composed specifically for this competition.
- Works must be in a tuning or temperament significantly different from 12-tone equal temperament. Such alternative systems include: extended just intonation; any non-12 equal division of the octave; non-octave scales e.g. Bohlen-Pierce; recurrent sequence scales; found or empirically-derived tunings; or any tunings invented by the composer based on mathematical principles or formulae, etc. See the Scala scale archive or the Xenharmonic Wiki for more ideas.
Submission and Judging
- Works will judged on the basis of their recorded form, to be submitted in FLAC audio format. Scores will only be used in the judging of Performance Awards and not considered in the general competition.
- Submissions must be uploaded via webform on the UnTwelve website.
- Submissions will open November 7th, 2011 and close at midnight (CST) on February 15th, 2012. See the link to register at the bottom of the page.
- Judging will occur by a panel of judges chosen by UnTwelve. The 2011 judges panel includes Aron Kallay, Vera Ivanova, Isaac Schankler, and Brian K. Shepherd.
- Submissions will be judged anonymously, on the basis of originality, form, sensitivity, and coherence. There is no limitation on style.
- Monetary prizes are: 1st place, $500; 2nd place, $250; 3rd place, $150. A maximum of one monetary prize per person will be awarded. The top three entrants will be interviewed and featured on the UnTwelve website.
- The judges reserve the right to grant no prize if no work is determined to be of sufficient quality.
- Following the competition, every applicant with an eligible entry will have the option for their composition to be hosted and linked to on the UnTwelve website.
Additional requirements and details for Performance Awards
- The Performance Award is open to un-premiered works for solo pianist playing retuned, remapped digital piano, with no additional live or pre-recorded electronics.
- In addition to the required FLAC recording of the work, you must submit a performance score in PDF. This score must be notated in scordatura, such that the written notes indicate the keys to be played, not the sounding pitches.
- The tuning/mapping scheme must be specified in the score. Non-linear mappings that would be impossible on an acoustic piano are encouraged! The tuning may change up to four times mid-composition; the changes must occur during a rest.
- Works which receive a Performance Award will be premiered by pianist Aron Kallay on June 23, 2012 as part of MicroFest's 2012 Festival of Microtonal Music (Los Angeles). They will be recorded by Kallay for inclusion on a CD to be released by MicroFest. An additional performance will be hosted by UnTwelve (Chicago) in Fall 2012.
- Up to six Performance Awards may be chosen.
You may now proceed to the REGISTRATION PAGE
We look forward to hearing your work! Good luck!