Site Search


Other Resources
News Archive






DaCapo Chamber Choir

 DaCapo Chamber Choir
Summary:Choral Competition
Deadline: 13 March 2017
Date Posted: 23 November 2016
Details: The DaCapo Chamber Choir announces the eighth annual NewWorks choral composition competition. The winning entry will receive a $1,500 cash award and a performance by the DaCapo Chamber Choir under director Leonard Enns, in the 2017/2018 season. Entry deadline is March 13, 2017.
Young composers (25 and under) are also encouraged to submit compositions for consideration in our new Young Composers Reading Sessions.

About the Competition
The DaCapo Chamber Choir, founded in 1998, is dedicated to choral music of the 21st and late 20th centuries. The NewWorks competition, as one expression of this mandate, fosters new and engaging choral works by Canadian composers.
For a list of some of the selections previously performed by the choir, please visit our “Previous Seasons”.

Composition Guidelines
• a cappella SATB (minimal a2 divisi permitted, but essentially 4-part)
• a single work, 4 to 6 minutes in length (i.e. do not submit a work with multiple movements)
• submissions must be original compositions; arrangements are not acceptable
• submissions may not have been published, commissioned, or previously performed
• entries from previous years are not eligible for resubmission
• more than one entry may be submitted, but each entry must include a separate entry form and fee ($25 each)
• the composer’s name must not appear anywhere on the score
• the copyright for the composition remains with the composer

Deadline
• electronic submissions (PDFs) are preferred and must be received by Monday, March 13, 2017 or earlier
• entry form, fees, and any scores not submitted electronically must be postmarked by Monday, March 13, 2017 or earlier

Prize
• $1,500 plus travel expenses to Kitchener-Waterloo for the winning composer to attend the premiere
• the winning composition will be featured in one of the main series concerts of the 2017/2018 season
• to receive the award, the winning composer must commit to attend the dress rehearsal and the premiere concerts (normally this is a Friday Saturday, and Sunday commitment)

Notification
• winners will be notified in mid-June 2017, with an official announcement made by the end of that month

Eligibility
• Canadian citizen or landed immigrant residing in Canada
• current DaCapo choir members or Board members are ineligible
• the winner of NewWorks must wait two years before again submitting a work to the competition

Submission Procedure
• scores must be created with notation software or neatly hand-scored. All scores must be in copy-ready format. Electronic composition submissions are preferred and will be accepted in PDF format ONLY
• the composer’s name, and any other identifying marks, MUST be removed from the score
• a piano reduction should be supplied only where warranted
• text must appear beneath all staves of choral parts
• include a copy of the text in its original layout
• a completed, signed entry form and a $25 entrance fee (cheque or money order payable to the DaCapo Chamber Choir) must be postmarked by Monday, March 13, 2017 or earlier and mailed toDaCapo Chamber Choir
• PO Box 40035
Waterloo Square PO
• Waterloo, ON N2J 4V1
• electronic scores must be submitted, in PDF format, to info@dacapochamberchoir.ca by Monday, March 13, 2017
• if submitting electronically, the entry form and fee must be mailed separately to the address above, and postmarked by Monday, March 13, 2017 or earlier

Other important notes
• please do NOT staple or bind in any way; use separate, numbered, 8.5Χ11 sheets of paper; portrait, not landscape, orientation
• do not send recordings
• incomplete applications will be neither considered nor returned
• application materials will not be returned
• the DaCapo Chamber Choir will retain the right to produce the first recording of the winning composition for three years after the competition deadline
• DaCapo retains the right of first performance for one year (from the date of prize announcement) of any works that are NewWorks winners, honorable mentions, or YCRS selections
• the DaCapo Chamber Choir reserves the right not to award a prize

Young Composers Reading Sessions
Composers, aged 25 and younger (as of Monday, March 13, 2017) are invited to submit compositions for consideration in our Young Composers Reading Sessions (YCRS). During the 2017/2018 season, DaCapo will host a public workshop at which compositions will be read by the choir in the presence of the composers. Composers will have opportunity to interact with the conductor and choristers in an effort to continue to refine their compositional craft. Compositions submitted to YCRS may also be entered into the NewWorks Competition.
Submission guidelines and procedures are the same as for the Competition, but there is no $25 entrance fee.

The DaCapo Chamber Choir gratefully acknowledges the support of:
Wallenstein Feed Charitable Foundation
Good Foundation Inc.
Ontario Arts Council
City of Kitchener
City of Waterloo

Web Site:dacapochamberchoir.ca/newworks/2017-competition/