CBA Composition Competition

The winner of the 2013 Canadian Band Association Composition Competition is River Valley Sketches by Matthew Donnelly. We received 27 entries from across the nation, which were reviewed by a national jury consisting of conductors Jim Forde (Sackville Community Band – Sackville, NS) and Wendy Grasdahl (Festival City Winds – Edmonton, AB), and composer/conductor Rob Power (Memorial University of Newfoundland – St. John’s, NL). In addition to Mr. Donnelly’s winning composition, the jury wanted to acknowledge the works submitted by Kenley Kristofferson (Prairie Wedding), Aiden Hartery (An Unlikely Adventure), Richard Covey (Maestoso), and Trevor Olfert (Memento Mori).

Information about perusing the winning and recommended works will be forthcoming.  Mr. Donnelly will receive $1,000 for his efforts and River Valley Sketches will be recorded by all of the ensembles in the competition consortium:

Le gagnant du concours 2013 en composition de l’Association canadienne des harmonies est River Valley Sketches par Matthew Donnelly. Nous avons reçu 27 compositions de divers compositeurs à travers le pays. Les compositions ont été évaluées par un jury national composé de Jim Ford, chef de l’orchestre communautaire de Sackville – Sackville, NS, Wendy Grasdahl directrice de Festival City Winds – Edmonton, AB et Rob Power, compositeur/directeur de Memorial University of Newfoundland – St. John’s, NL. En plus de la composition gagnante de M. Donnelly, le jury a voulu reconnaître les œuvres soumises par Kenley Kristofferson (Prairie Wedding), Aiden Hartery (An Unlikely Adventure), Richard Covey (Maestoso) et Trevor Olfert (Memento Mori).

Les informations sur la lecture de la pièce gagnante et les oeuvres recommandées seront accessibles. Pour ses accomplissements, M. Donnelly recevra 1,000 $ et River Valley Sketches sera enregistré par tous les ensembles dans le consortium de concurrence :

See the full 2011 Competition Information here

See the full 2012 Competition Information here

1) Memorial University will oversee the competition and facilitate the annual creation of a three-person independent jury that will include representation from three of the core institutions. Each institution will form part of the jury at least once.

2) The three-member jury will comprise of at least one band director and one composer.

3) Submissions will be accepted from Canadian citizens who self-identify as emerging composers.

4) The 2012 deadline to submit is 5:00 pm EST on December 1st.

5) The composer of the winning composition will receive a cash prize of $1,000.

6) Only one $1000 prize will be awarded each year.

7) All copyright, mechanical rights, and royalty rights remain with the composer.

8) Application information is available on the CBA website (www.canadianband.ca).

9) The winner will be announced by email; notification will be sent to all applicants and the CBA membership, and results will be posted on the CBA website.

10) The decision of the jury will be final and their decision will be reported to the CBA (ie. The CBA is only facilitating the competition). Should the jury consider none of the submitted compositions to be meritorious, a “no prize” decision will be rendered, the funds will be moved to the following year and the three-year project will be extended one year.

The Composition

1) Submissions must:

a) be an original, unpublished composition for band.

b) be approximately 4 and 10 minutes in duration.

c) not exceed a difficulty level of Grade 4 (based on the 1-6 grade level system).

i) For an overview of the grading system used for determining the levels of difficulty in band repertoire, please consult:

(1) Bruce Pearson, “Selecting Music for the Young Band” in Teaching Music Through Performance in Beginning Band, pp. 45-60. * This chapter only deals with beginning music, levels 1-3 and their “expectations on tessitura, harmony, rhythmic patterns/meter, etc.

(2) The Saskatchewan Band Association’s Grade 6-9 Support Document (http://www.saskband.org/NewsandInformation/supportdocument.html).

d) d. have been written within 5 years of the deadline.

2) Submissions will only be accepted electronically and must include a .pdf score, a recording (mp3, AAC, .wav, .aiff, etc.) and a completed entry form. While applicants are encouraged to send actual recordings, MIDI realizations will be accepted. PLEASE COMPRESS ALL AUDIO FILES SENT SO AS TO MAXIMIZE EMAIL SPACE.

3) Composers may re-submit non-winning compositions from this or other competitions, however once a work has been awarded a prize in the CBA competition, it may not be submitted again.

4) Concertos or solos/ensembles with band accompaniments are not acceptable.

5) The desired instrumentation is as follows:

Flutes (div. in 2) + piccolo* (opt.)

Clarinets (div. in 2 or 3) + bass clarinet*

Oboes* (1 or 2 parts)

Saxophones: Alto (div. in 2), Tenor, Baritone* (Soprano*, opt.)

Bassoons* (1 or 2 parts)

Trumpets (div. in 2 or 3)

Horns (div. in 2,3, or 4)

Trombones (div. in 2 or 3)

Euphoniums (1 or 2 parts B.C. & transposed for T.C.)

Tuba

Percussion in 4 parts (maximum 2 mallet instruments)

Electronics (optional**)

* N.B.: Solos written for instruments marked (*) should be cross-cued in other instruments.

** Electronics: The technical resources of each ensemble will vary. To ensure a successful performance, electronics should be limited in scope to reasonable technical forces of a grade 4 level band. Suggested guidelines: stereo speakers, soundfile playback, well-designed laptop-based live electronics.

The Consortium

In order to allow as many ensembles as possible to participate, we have created two levels of commitment: Core Membership and Affiliate Membership.

1) Core Membership

a) The following ensembles/directors will be in the 2nd year of their 3 year commitment as Core members:

i) Brandon University

ii) Festival City Winds

iii) Memorial University of Newfoundland

iv) Sackville Community Band

v) University of Saskatchewan

b) Benefits of membership:

i) The opportunity to participate in at least one of the three juries.

ii) A .pdf file of the score and parts.

iii) Recognition as core member in the score.

c) All funds, $1000 per year, will be used for the prize money.

2) Affiliate Membership

a) There is no limit to the number of ensembles that may participate as affiliates. The organizations that have already sign on for this year include:

i) University of British Columbia

ii) Westgate Mennonite Collegate

3) Affiliate members can be university, high school or community bands that perform approximately grade 4 level repertoire.

4) Affiliate members agree to commit $100 per year and have the option to renew their membership annually.

5) iv. Benefits of membership:

i) A .pdf file of the score and parts.

ii) Recognition as affiliate member in the score.

iii) First chance to become a core member in the event of a vacancy. First come, first serve.

b) v. All funds will be used to either establish an endowment or create additional prizes.

Details

1) Funds must be submitted to the Canadian Band Association no later than October 15, 2012. Should funds not be received by the deadline, Core Membership status may be offered to another ensemble. Participants will be invoiced by the CBA.

2) The participating ensembles agree to record the winning composition before the next competition deadline and provide the composer with a copy of the recording.

3) The participating ensembles will make every effort to give a public performance of the winning composition.

4) At the conclusion of the three years, the project will be reviewed and members will have the opportunity to renew their membership.

5) Either the conductor or the ensemble must be a current member of the CBA.

To become a part of this exciting project or ask questions about either the consortium or the competition, contact Jason Caslor (jcaslor@mun.ca).

Thank you to Norm Ferraris for french translations of this project

Download information PDF (114.09 K)

Download Entry Form PDF (66.31 K)

version française ici