Call for entries: Female composers competition

IAWM is an international membership organisation of women and men dedicated to fostering and encouraging the activities of women in music, particularly in the areas of composing, performing and research.

“IAWM members engage in efforts to increase the programming of music by female composers, to combat discrimination against female musicians, including symphony orchestra members, and to include accounts of the contributions of women musicians in university music curricula and textbooks,” the IAWM official website reads.

Interested individuals who are non-members may join at the time of entry and apply in the following completion categories:

Ruth Anderson Commission Prize

Application for this competition should include a detailed proposal for a new sound installation with electroacoustic music. The project should be an ongoing installation and not require performance to be successful. The project must be completed within 12 months of notification of the award. The winner will receive a prize of $1 000.

Christine Clark/Theodore Front Prize

This competition is for large chamber works for more than nine instruments and orchestral works; may include works featuring soloist (vocal or instrumental). The winner will receive $500.

Miriam Gideon Prize

Applicants should be 50 years old and above. The submissions should be for solo voice with one to five instruments. The winner will be awarded $500.

Libby Larsen Prize

This competition is for anyone who is enrolled in a music school and works for any medium. The winning prize is $300.

Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble Prize

This competition is strictly for jazz compositions of any duration from small ensemble to big bands playing 4 to 17 instruments. The winner will get $300.

PatsyLu Prize

This competition is strictly for  black women and/or lesbians. The submissions should be on classical art music in any form or instrumentation. The winning prize is $500.

Pauline Oliveros New Genre Prize

In this competition, the application should include works incorporating innovative form or style, such as improvisation, multimedia, use of non-traditional notation, open instrumentation, or new performance practices. If no score is used, a description of the work and its inspiration should accompany the audio or video submission. The winner will receive $300.

Alex Shapiro Prize

Applications for this competition should include works of any duration for a large ensemble wind band requiring a conductor, with or without a soloist, acoustic or electroacoustic, published or yet unpublished. The prize will be $500 inclusive of mentorship/consultation from Alex Shapiro.

Judith Lang Zaimont Prize

Interested individuals should be 30 years and above. The submissions should be an extended instrumental composition for great solo or chamber works by a composer whose music has not yet been commercially recorded or published. The winning prize is $400.

Submissions close on 30 April and the winners will be announced no later than August 30.

Requirements

This opportunity is available for any female composer from around the world who has not won the award in the past two years.

To stand a chance of winning, participants must:

• Have a valid membership with IAWM.
• Submit the score in PDF.
• Submit a recording of a performance, reading or MP3 files of MIDI file.
• Ensure that the work submitted is unpublished by a major publishing house and has not won an award before the time of entry in the competition. This is exclusive of the Alex Shapiro Prize.

Interested individuals can pay and apply for membership here before logging in and applying here.

Read the original call here. 

For more information, email the chair of the Search for New Music competition, Ingrid Stölzel, at snm@iawm.org.