Monday, 30 July 2012

Opus 2013

James Brady, Britten Sinfonia's new Creative Learning Assistant talks about Opus 2013, one of the key projects he is involved in;


With about a month to go before the closing deadline, applications for our open submission composition competition are steadily coming in.  As a composer myself, I was both pleased and dismayed to be handed the task of keeping track of all the applications and getting them ready for our Artistic Advisor, composer Huw Watkins, to look at after the first stage of the competition closes.  Pleased because I can see what a great opportunity this is for unpublished composers: no restrictions on age or experience, no need to write new material unless chosen for the second stage, and, for one lucky winner, not one but three performances by top professionals, mentoring from Huw, a BBC broadcast and a proper commission fee!  I know from my own experience that  a competition with such a smorgasbord of prizes is rarely open to so many applicants – usually there’s some sort of application fee, or you have to write a lot of new music first which may never get selected, or you have to be in a certain age bracket.  Dismayed though, because my role means I won’t be able to enter!

If you’re a composer, all you need to do is send us two existing pieces (and preferably a recording of at least one of them – but this isn’t essential) for instrumental ensembles of 3-10 players and fill in a brief form.  The form and all the details are available on the OPUS 2013 page of our website, which can be reached via this handy link: http://bit.ly/opus2013.  The deadline is 31 August so what are you waiting for?

James Brady
Creative Learning Assitant

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