A4 Brass Quartet Launch 2019 Composition Competition
Following the success of the inaugural competition, A4 Brass is delighted to announce the launch of their 2nd composition competition. The ensemble has had an exciting 2018, winning the Royal Over-Seas League Chamber Music Competition, working with City Music Foundation and becoming Honorary Artists in Association at the Royal Northern College of Music. The group has also appeared at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall, coupled with European tours to Finland, Lithuania and Switzerland and a brace of appearances on primetime BBC Radio 3.
Last year’s competition attracted a high number of entries from around the world, with first prize being awarded to the talented Cardiff based composer Daniel Hall for his work, ‘The Black Dahlia’. This, alongside runner-up Jared McCunnie’s ‘Just Cause’ and Under 24 category winner Toby Carswell’s ‘Fantasy’ have been recorded and performed by the quartet throughout various projects in 2018.
This year A4 Brass are looking for a concert work inspired by one of the following landmark events which will be taking place in 2019:
• 500 years since death of Leonardo da Vinci
• 200 years since birth of Queen Victoria
• 150 years since birth of Mahatma Gandhi
• 50th anniversary of the moon landing
The brief for the compositions is very free, but the following must apply to each entry:
• Compositions must be of 4-8 minutes in duration.
• Works must never have been performed before.
• Instrumentation of: Bb Cornet (doubling Flugel), Tenor Horn in Eb, Baritone Horn in Bb (treble clef) and Euphonium in Bb (treble clef).
• Mutes are available if required for all instruments.
• Anonymous scores are NOT required.
• Please consider presentation, practicality and suitability for concert performance for the entry
Once again, A4 are delighted to be able to offer a healthy £650 prize fund, and also aim to encourage a new generation of student composers with a special Under 24 award (if both 1st and 2nd prize fall into this category, the next highest U24 entry will receive this award).
1st Prize - £400, a professional recording and regular performances on the quartet’s concert series’ in 2019/2020.
2nd Prize - £150, a professional recording and regular performances on the quartet’s concert series’ in 2019/2020.
Under 24 Prize - £100 and a professional recording of the work.
Scores can be submitted as either a Sibelius 7 (or earlier) file or as PDF files accompanied by an mp3/m4a file, and need to be emailed to a4brassquartet@hotmail.co.uk with ‘A4 COMPOSITION’ in the subject line.
The closing date for entries is FRIDAY 8TH MARCH, 2019, with award winners being announced and notified in early April.
