Portsmouth, NH (Top40 Charts/ PARMA Records) PARMA Recordings is pleased to announce the inaugural PARMA Student Composer Competition, the first in a series of annual competitions for student composers. The official Call For Scores will be distributed on February 29th.
Ten winners will be selected by an award-winning panel of three independent judges, and the winners' pieces will be published in the digitally-distributed 2012 PARMA Anthology Of Music: Student Edition.
One Grand Prize Winner will be selected to have their piece professionally recorded and produced for release by PARMA. All recording, production, and publicity costs will be completely subsidized by PARMA, and the master will be released on a collection to be distributed through industry leader Naxos.
As with all PARMA projects, the composers will retain their rights to the composition and master recording. One of the goals of this competition is to usher in new music from the next generation of composers, and PARMA feels strongly that artists should retain rights to their intellectual property, particularly at the outset of their professional musical careers.
This competition gives young composers a career-advancing and career-positioning opportunity to be published, produced, and distributed by an established music company while still a student. The Grand Prize Winner will have a chance to enjoy a singular recording experience, fully funded and produced by PARMA, and all composers selected for the Anthology will have their work introduced to the listening public with the same high level of attention and quality given to all PARMA artists.
"We are pleased to offer student composers the chance to have their music published, performed, and recorded in an immersive, interactive environment," says PARMA Recordings CEO Bob Lord. "PARMA has dedicated itself to promoting new music by living composers deserving of wide recognition, and this Anthology will offer students the same opportunities provided to all of our artists."
There is no fee for entry. The call for scores and full submission details will be distributed on February 29th, and submissions will be accepted from March 1st until March 31st. Submitted pieces can be written for up to 5 performers and have a duration of up to 10 minutes. More information will be sent in the official Call For Scores and on the PARMA website.
Competition Timeline
February 29, 2012 - Call for scores distributed
March 1, 2012 - Submission period opens
March 31, 2012 - Submission period closes
April 1, 2012 - April 30th - Judging period
May 1, 2012 - Winners announced
About The Judges
John Page
John Page studied at King's College London, University College Dublin,
Trinity College Dublin, and Harvard University and began his career with the
National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland in 2000. In Ireland, his 2002 performances of Viktor Ullmann's The Emperor of Atlantis with Opera Theatre Company garnered the prestigious Irish Times Opera of the Year award and he was subsequently invited to give a Lyric FM broadcast concert with the NSOI. Throughout the next decade, Page worked with the NEC Symphony,
Boston Ballet, the Irish Film Orchestra, the
Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the
Modern Band, Mimesis Ensemble, the BBC Ulster Orchestra, and many others with roles ranging from Conductor to
Music Director.
In 2010 Page was invited to join the Faculty of the
Boston University as a Visiting Associate Professor. He was appointed
Music Director of the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra in 2011 and was invited to conduct the Portland Symphony Orchestra. Page is also the Artistic
Director of the newly formed PARMA Orchestra, which began an extensive ongoing series of recordings in June 2011. In December 2011 he conducted the first
Celtic Woman Symphony Tour visiting thirteen U.S. cities and orchestras including the Atlanta Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony and Colorado Symphony.
Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks is a native of upstate New York and holds a B.S. degree in
Music Education from the Crane School of Music, Potsdam College, an M.A. in Composition from Binghamton University, and a Ph. D. in Composition from New York University. From 1975 to 2004 he was on the music faculty of Nassau Community College where he was Professor and, for 22 years, Department Chair. In addition to his services in education, he has composed nearly ninety works for various media and ensembles.
From 1977 to 1982 he was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the American Society of University Composers (now the Society of Composers, Inc.) on which he continues to serve as the Producer of the SCI CD Series. In 1981 he was elected to the Board of Governors of the American Composers Alliance, and after serving two terms as Secretary and three terms as Vice-President, he was elected President in the fall of 1993. From 1992 to 1998 he was a member of the Junior/Community College Commission on Accreditation of the
National Association of Schools of Music.
Brooks is the founder of Capstone Records and works closely with PARMA to continue the Capstone legacy and shepherd the company and its music into the digital era.
Tim Davis
Massachusetts native Timothy A. Davis brings a variety of administrative, corporate, and new music experience to his role as CEO of the
Boston New
Music Initiative. Recognizing the need for a strong network across musical disciplines, Tim's motivation in founding BNMI reflects his long-standing commitment to furthering the careers of composers and musicians. He has served as a judge for composition competitions with the
National Federation of
Music Clubs and on judging panels for BNMI's Calls for Scores. As an educator, Tim provides private composition instruction, and he worked as an instructor of theory and aural skills at the University of Iowa, where he earned Pi Kappa
Lambda honors in graduating with a doctorate in composition in 2009. He also holds degrees from
Boston College and the University of Massachusetts.
An active composer in constant pursuit of new collaborations and projects, Tim has studied composition with Bruce MacCombie,
David Gompper,
Thomas Oboe Lee, Lawrence Fritts, and Salvatore Macchia, as well as electroacoustic composition with Scott Wyatt, Lawrence Fritts, and Jean-Paul Perrotte. His music has been presented at the Denison New
Music Festival and for opening night performances in consecutive years at the Midwest Composers Symposia. Recent collaborations and commissions include works for the Bay Colony Brass, Quinta Esencia Ensemble, Northern Arizona University Faculty New
Music Ensemble, and for University of Illinois DMA candidate Candace
Thomas (funded by the International Horn Society).
About the Editor
Chris Brubaker
is the founder and Manager of ThatNewMusicLibrary.com and ThatNewMusicWebsite.com. In 2011, PARMA acquired ThatNewMusic, and Chris continues to work as one of PARMA's Musical Advisors. Chris was instrumental in the development and release of the 2011 Anthology Of Contemporary Concert Music, a collection of modern works distributed on ThatNewMusicWebsite, and serves as editor for this Student Edition.
About PARMA Recordings
PARMA Recordings LLC is the parent organization of the Navona, Big Round, Ravello, and Capstone label imprints. The company's work spans classical, jazz, rock, blues, family, and film, and includes programs and divisions for custom audio, licensing, publishing and more.
PARMA's labels feature work by artists such as Grammy® winner Richard Stoltzman, Pulitzer Prize winner Lewis Spratlan, renowned percussionist Steve Gadd, Pixar/Randy Newman orchestrator Jonathan Sacks, New York Philharmonic concertmaster
Glenn Dicterow, and The Who's Pete Townshend, among others.
PARMA emphasizes new and engaging sounds, innovative presentation, and an interactive experience from all of our physical and digital products. PARMA has pioneered the use of Enhanced Content in our releases to bundle and incorporate digital study scores, recording session photos and videos, composer interviews, applications for mobile devices, and other contextual information to facilitate a greater understanding of new music.
