Would you like to hear your music performed by one of the UK’s leading chamber ensembles?
Would you like to discuss your music with internationally renowned composer Judith Weir?
Hebrides Ensemble supports composers at all stages of their careers, most recently through: workshops for those at school, college and university; training for amateur composers working on their own; commissions and performances for those entering the profession; and commissions, recordings and broadcasts for established composers internationally. If we don’t know you or your music, we can’t support you! So, this is a chance to let us see what you’re doing and for us to get to know your music.
Submissions should be:
- a maximum of 7 minutes long (this could be a section of a larger work)
- written for any combination of the following instruments: Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano. Solo or ensemble works will be considered.
- We don’t mind if your work has been performed before; if it’s published or unpublished; how old you are; or where you’re from. The only thing we ask is that you have completed your formal education.
A selection of submitted scores will be chosen for performance at an international composers’ seminar in Edinburgh on Wednesday 8 May 2019 at Stockbridge Parish Church. It will be led by composer Judith Weir and Hebrides Ensemble’s Artistic Director William Conway and the scores will be performed by Hebrides Ensemble’s musicians.
Submissions must be received by 18:00 on 11 February 2019. One copy of the score (and a recording if you have one) should be emailed to hello@hebridesensemble.com. Please include the application form, which can be downloaded here. If you can’t submit your work by email then please get in touch.
If your piece is selected, we will let you know by 15 March 2019 and we will ask that you provide us with a set of parts by 1st April 2019. Please ensure that scores and parts are legible. Composers whose work is selected for performance would be expected to attend the seminar on 8 May 2019 and we would provide you with a recording of your work.
Composers of any age and stage will be welcome to attend the seminar, even if you have not submitted a score. The seminar is open to all.
Further information:
With programmes that are diverse, imaginative and inspiring, Hebrides Ensemble has established itself as one of the foremost chamber music collectives in the UK. Co-founded and led by its artistic director, the cellist and conductor William Conway, the Ensemble is renowned for its fresh and intelligent approach to programming, which places contemporary music at the heart of a diverse range of repertoire.
Judith Weir studied composition with John Tavener, Robin Holloway and Gunther Schuller. On leaving Cambridge University in 1976 she taught in England and Scotland, and in the mid-1990s became Associate Composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of Spitalfields Festival. She was a Visiting Professor at Princeton (2001), Harvard (2004) and Cardiff (2006-13) and in 2014 was appointed Master of the Queen’s Music. In 2015 she became Associate Composer to the BBC Singers.
She is the composer of several operas (written for Kent Opera, Scottish Opera, ENO and Bregenz) which have been widely performed. She has written orchestra music for the BBC Symphony, Boston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras. Much of her music has been recorded, and is available on the NMC, Delphian and Signum labels. She blogs about her cultural experiences at www.judithweir.com.
