Choral Sketches 2024
Chamber Choir Ireland and the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland are delighted to renew their composer professional development partnership, Choral Sketches for its sixth year with composer mentor, Rhona Clarke.
Chamber Choir Ireland is the country’s flagship choral ensemble and national chamber choir and the Contemporary Music Centre is Ireland’s national archive and resource centre for new music, supporting and developing the work of composers throughout the island of Ireland and documenting, developing and promoting new music from Ireland at home and abroad.
This is a unique professional development opportunity for composers who wish to develop their skills in writing choral music with mentoring from renowned Irish composer, Rhona Clarke. The purpose of Choral Sketches is to provide a creative, open environment for composers to deepen their experience in writing for choir; benefitting from mentorship, peer learning, and feedback from the singers and their conductor.
All applicants for Choral Sketches 2024 will receive equal opportunity irrespective of gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, ethnicity or indigenous status. The project is open to all composers born or based on the island of Ireland. We especially encourage those from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to apply.
The process of developing a new choral work is central to Choral Sketches with the focus on the open workshop where *sketches only (not finished pieces) can be workshopped and trialled with the singers and conductor of Chamber Choir Ireland, giving the composers detailed insight in how to present their compositional voice in a choral context. Only after this central part of the process will the composers go on to use the insights gained at the workshop to develop their sketches into a completed piece of between 5-8 minutes. Selected composers will be asked to submit a music notated score of their sketches.
*A sketch is defined as one or more music notated scores which can be worked on within the workshop space with clear instructions for the choir and conductor. They must contain original music composed by the participant composer.
What happens in the Choral Sketches project?
- A maximum of three composers will be selected to take part in Choral Sketches 2024.
- The selected composers will first meet with the composer mentor in a one-to-one meeting to discuss their proposal and meet with their fellow participant composers in CMC on Monday 15 April 2024.
- Selected composers will then have the opportunity to have a 45 minute one-to-one online mentoring session between the participant composer and composer mentor ahead of submitting their sketches for the public workshop.
- The selected composers will then submit their sketches to CMC by Friday 2 August 2024 ahead of their public workshop with Chamber Choir Ireland.
- These sketches will be the focus of a public workshop led by conductor Paul Hillier with Chamber Choir Ireland on Thursday 26 September 2024 from 4pm - 6.30pm.
- Each composer will be allocated 40 minutes to workshop their choral sketches with input from Chamber Choir Ireland guest conductor, Paul Hillier and composer mentor, Rhona Clarke. A recording will be made of this workshop for archival and study purposes for the composers. All composers must attend this workshop in person.
- Following this workshop there will be another 45 minute one-to-one online mentoring session with composer mentor, Rhona Clarke.
- Composers will then submit their finished pieces to CMC in November 2024.
- The finished pieces will then be the subject of a performance reading by Chamber Choir Ireland in early 2025. A recording will be made of this session for archival and study purposes. All composers must attend this event in person.
- The selected composers will each receive a stipend of €500 for their participation in Choral Sketches. This stipend will be paid by CMC over the course of the opportunity.
Chamber Choir Ireland and the Contemporary Music Centre are now seeking applications for Choral Sketches 2024
Would you like to apply for Choral Sketches 2024?
In order to make a submission, composers must submit the following by email to submissions@cmc.ie on or before 7 March 2024 at 5pm.
Please include the following:
A proposal outlining how Choral Sketches will enable you to explore your compositional ideas and develop your skills. Please provide this in pdf format along with your contact details. This proposal will then be the subject of your meeting with composer mentor, Rhona Clarke in early April 2023.
Two recently completed original scores in PDF format (not excerpts) and mp3 recordings or electronic realisations of each score.
Notes for applicants
- Participating composers may apply for CMC travel bursaries and receive CMC score copying support directly related to the project.
- If you have made an unsuccessful application to Choral Sketches in the past, this does not preclude you from applying in 2024. For Choral Sketches 2024 applications that are based on previous applications, please take care to explain how you have developed your idea since last applying.
- Participating composers with disabilities may apply for CMC access bursary support. This opportunity is open to all composers born or based on the island of Ireland.
- Late and/or incomplete applications will not be considered.
- There is no age restriction for applicants. We encourage composers of all ages to apply.
- We especially encourage those from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to apply.
- Participant composers will be required to have their work made available online for educational purposes for audience attendees of the workshops.
For queries on Choral Sketches, please contact Keith Fennell, CMC Production Coordinator
Email: kfennell@cmc.ie
Call: 01-673 1922
