Duo Tarenna announce their inaugural open call for scores for their upcoming project “parts & pieces”, in collaboration with violinist Joelle Chiam and cellist Tan Yan Chong.
Deadline: 19 Apr 2022 (Tu)
The Composers Society of Singapore has received this call from Duo Tarenna, comprising TAN Tiag Yi (CSS Member) and Cindy OW:
Hello folks! We are so delighted to announce our first open call for scores for our next project, in collaboration with our dear friends violinist Joelle Chiam and cellist Tan Yan Chong. Entitled “parts & pieces”, this concert will feature little-known pieces of the vast string chamber repertoire, showcasing some of the myriad instrumental combinations within the string quartet.
Eligibility
We invite emerging Singaporean/Singapore-based composers above the age of 15 years to participate in this open call. Emerging can be variously defined, and could include not having been commissioned before, not having been performed publicly before etc. Participants compositional experience will be taken into account in the assessment of the piece they submit.
Submission requirements
Participants may submit works written for at least two (2) instruments found in a typical string quartet (2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello), of which 1 instrument must be the violin. Each submitted work should not be longer than four (4) minutes.
By submitting works, composers consent to the musicians retaining their scores for future reference and grant the performance rights of their pieces to the musicians for any future performances. Participants under 18 are required to have a signed letter of parental consent when they submit their pieces. The consent form can be found here.
Six (6) files should be submitted to us via opencall.duotarenna@gmail.com
- The full score (.pdf)
- Combined parts (.pdf)
- Program note (.pdf)
- Technical instructions (.pdf)
- A sample recording (.mp3); both acoustic and MIDI recordings are welcome
- A 200-word biography of yourself, for archival purposes
To maintain participants’ anonymity, we would like all participants to pick a random 3-digit number from 000 to 999 and name each file in the following convention (where XYZ represents the 3-digit number):
- XYZ_FullScore.pdf
- XYZ_Combined.pdf
- XYZ_ProgramNote.pdf
- XYZ_TechIndication.pdf
- XYZ_Recording.mp3
- XYZ_Bio.pdf
All files should be emailed in one (1) single email to facilitate the process. Do NOT indicate your name in any of the files, except your biography. We will not read your biography during the vetting process.
The deadline for submission of scores is 19 Apr 2022 (Tu), 11:59:59 PM SGT. If you encounter any technical difficulties during submission, do not hesitate to email us at duo.tarenna@gmail.com for help.
Judging Process
Submitted works will be assessed twice by the four musicians – Tiag Yi and Cindy (of Duo Tarenna), Joelle and Yan Chong. The first round will be a blind judging and result in a shortlist of works. In the second round, the four musicians will reassess the works on the shortlist and take into consideration the experience of the composers, before a final selection is made. There are no limits to compositional style; the four of us strive to judge submitted works based on playability, artistic achievement and concept, just to name a few criteria.
Two (2) works will be selected to be performed by Duo Tarenna and friends between July and August. These works will receive one round of feedback from us, before the scores are finalised mid-May. We will try our best to perform other works that were submitted this open call in the near future.
Question-and-Answer session
We wish to make the open call as inclusive as possible. Hence, there will be an opportunity for prospective participants to ask us questions regarding the open call, such as technical requirements, instrumental considerations and ideation. The question-and-answer session will be held online on 11 Mar 2022 (F) 8PM SGT. Sign up for the session via the link: https://forms.gle/nM7r6D2HFqVShC737
We have come up with a list of resources that may help you in composing contemporary works for string instruments. The growing list can be found here. We hope you find it helpful in your submission process.
Timeline
- 19 Feb – Open Call begins
- 11 Mar – Q&A session
- 19 Apr – Open Call closes
- Early May – Chosen works are announced, composers of works are contacted for 1 round of feedback and revision
- Mid-May – Final version of scores are due
- Jul – Aug – Chosen works will be performed at our concert parts & pieces
