IU New Music Ensemble Commissions

IU New Music Ensemble Commissions

Since 1977, the composition department has awarded prizes each year to composition majors, recognizing outstanding accomplishment in music composition. Since 1993, these awards have included commissions to compose works for the IU New Music Ensemble. Starting in 2019, two commissions for New Music Ensemble will be awarded (in addition to the Georgina Joshi Composition Commission Award, which is a third commission opportunity for students to compose for the NME each year).

New Music Ensemble Graduate Commission ($500).

New Music Ensemble Undergraduate Commission ($500).

Two commissions will be awarded, based on submission of a chamber or ensemble work for three to seventeen instruments, with or without voice or electronics. The commissioned works will be performed and recorded by the IU New Music Ensemble during a subsequent concert season.

GUIDELINES & ELIGIBILITY

• All composition majors enrolled in fall or spring semester of the current academic year are eligible.
• A student may submit (only) one composition.
• The submitted work must have been composed during the student's tenure in the Jacobs School of Music.
• The score should demonstrate a high standard of notation.
• An audio recording (live or synthesized) of the work must be included.
• The duration of the work should be indicated on the title page of the score.
• If the judges feel that no entry is worthy of the award, none will be made. Decisions will be announced as soon as feasible after the deadline.
• Winners of previous NME or Joshi commissions are ineligible, with the exception that a student can be awarded one such commission as both an undergraduate and as a graduate student, though not one at both MM and DM levels.
• The winner of the Jon Vickers Film Scoring Award is not eligible for the NME commission that is awarded in the academic year following the summer announcement of the Vickers Award. This is to avoid two major commissions to one student for premiere in the same academic year. The NME commissions have timelines of 6-10 months, whereas the Vickers timeline is around 18 months.
• Students selected for commissions must be returning to IU the following year or must be willing to travel to Bloomington (at the student's expense) to attend a minimum of two rehearsals in addition to both dress rehearsals.

DEADLINE: 12:00 noon on the Monday following Spring Break.

SUBMISSIONS:

PDF and mp3 files. Do not submit Finale or Sibelius files. Make sure that your score is formatted well and understand that this partly means that people can peruse your score efficiently on a computer monitor. Speak to your teacher if you have any question about this.

All PDFs and mp3s must be uploaded to the Submissions Folder at:
https://iu.box.com/s/do48byje8lu01ok233np 

Use this format for filenames:

NME_G_<lastname>_<title>.pdf (or mp3)
NME_UG_<lastname>_<title>.pdf (pr mp3)

Example of graduate entry filenames:
NME_G_Baker_Lamentations.pdf
NME_G_Baker_Lamentations.mp3

Example of undergraduate entry filenames:
NME_UG_Freund_Pentecost.pdf 
NME_UG_Freund_Pentecost.mp3

COMMISSION DETAILS

• Instrumentation: 1111-1111-2 pc, hp, 2 pn-2111 (or close to this, subject to discussion with the director of NME.  Doublings are ok. Saxophone is a possible addition.)
  
  
• Duration: 10-minute human performance time maximum, unless otherwise agreed to by the NME director. (Dissertations may be up to 15 minutes).
  
  
• Inscription.  The score should bear the following inscription:  "Commissioned by the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Composition Department"
  
  
• Award funds will be disbursed soon after the announcement is made.
  
  
• Deadlines.  The deadline for the score will be December 1 (PDF) and for the printed parts and two hard copies of score, December 15 (to PED).  Include one sample part by PDF to NME director with the scores by Dec. 1.  Of course, both must be properly prepared (bound, measure numbers, page turns, etc.).  Please make the score in portrait orientation, preferably on 10x13.  Score and parts need adequate measure numbers, rehearsal letters or numbers, cues, page turns, etc. Consult the Notation Guide at the department website if needed. If all PDFs (score and parts) are finalized and approved prior to Dec. 1, PED will assume the cost of printing and binding performance materials.
  
  
• Performance date:  Usually during spring semester following the Dec. deadline, but it is also quite possible that one of the three commissions for NME each year (incuding these two and the Joshi Award), will be performed during the following fall semester.