Inversion Ensemble Emerging Composer Contest

Inversion Ensemble Emerging Composer Contest

Who is Inversion Ensemble?

Austin’s Inversion Ensemble is a choral collective made up of composers and singers formed to give voice to innovative choral works and to encourage the creation of new music, especially in the Austin area. A great deal of our repertoire is written especially for Inversion Ensemble by composers who sing within the ranks of the ensemble.

While many members of Inversion Ensemble perform, conduct, compose, study, and teach music full-time, the group also includes non-professional participants who are equally passionate about choral music and ensuring it thrives as a modern art form.

Purpose of Emerging Composer Contest:

Inversion Ensemble is looking for a young composer of color to be highlighted as part of our 2018-2019 Season on our concert entitled I, Too, Sing America: Songs of our Shared History. This concert will focus on pieces that are inspired by American History and contemporary American society with topics ranging from gun violence, LGBTQ rights and racial inequality. Pieces submitted should follow a similar theme in order to be considered for performance. Inversion Ensemble is a modern, innovative ensemble so uses of extended technique, non-traditional forms, etc. are welcomed.

Qualifications:

To qualify you must be 35 years or younger as of October 7th, 2018 and currently reside in the United States including Alaska, Hawaii or U.S. Territories. As the contest goal is to give voice to an underserved segment of the compositional world, we prefer that submission come from young composers of color.

Composition Requirements:

3-7 minutes in duration
Any combination of SATB voicing up to SSAATTBB
May be a cappella or with piano accompaniment
A cappella submissions MUST include piano reduction
Text must be public domain or be accompanied by a letter of permission from copyright owner
Please only submit 1 entry
No fee is required for submission

Please submit a PDF copy of your composition without you name anywhere on the body of composition. The PDF copy must be clear, clean and legible. No handwritten scores will be considered. Graphic scores may be a PDF scan of a written score if applicable. You will also need a cover letter that includes the following information:

Composer’s name
Physical Address
Phone Number
Email Address
Date of Birth
Current Occupation (including if you are currently an enrolled student)
Head shot and short bio

Judging criteria includes, but is not limited to:

Compositional structure
Voice Leading
Harmonic language
Adherence to concert theme
Text selection and setting
Piano accompaniment (if applicable)
General understanding of choral idiom

All entries must be submitted by August 1st, 2018 to be considered.

The winner will be notified no later than September 1st, 2018. He or she will have the opportunity to have a phone meeting with Artistic Director, Trevor Shaw and members of the ensemble including other composers. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize, certificate of achievement, inclusion of piece on October 2018 concerts, and a recording of composition concert performances.

Please send submissions to Inversion Ensemble Managing Director, Robbie LaBanca at